High School Life
by hayhaymellark
Summary: When Katniss Everdeen moves to a new school her senior year, she experiences twists and turns of every kind, but maybe it won't be too bad with her new friends by her side...and maybe even someone special.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys, this is my very first fanfiction ever, so to be honest, it might suck. I really hope that it doesn't, but I can't make any promises that it won't.**

 **Please leave comments and suggestions for me and I'll take into account what you say. No flames, only constructive criticism. I warn you that there will be OOC characters in here and if you are an Everthorne shipper, this is not the story for you, if you like Gale at all, this is NOT the story for you.**

 **Any and all mistakes are mine.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games or any of these characters, they all belong to Suzanne Collins.**

"Katniss! Katniss! Wake up! C'mon, we're gonna be late!" Prim shouted as she bounced on my bed. Ouch. She landed on my foot, that's gonna bruise. "Kat, it's only the first day of school, we can't be late already."

I groaned as I lifted my head from the pillow.

"Alright, alright, I'm up." I grumble. I stretch my arms and rub my eyes to rid them of my sleep induced haze. I look to the clock at my right: 7:15. Okay, I've got forty-five minutes before school, starts. And I will use that time to wallow in my hole of despair known as...life.

I'm not looking forward to school, my family moved here three months ago when my mother found a job as a nurse in the small clinic in town. It's tiny, but it pays better than what she did before. She was a waitress at a local cafe until she got laid off.

Today is my first day of school here. Which, obviously, I am not all that excited about. At my old school, I was a loner and people tended not to like me. And that was the school I had gone to since kindergarten, imagine what will happen here.

Not that I cared all that much, I didn't have too much time for friends anyway, it just would be kind of nice if everyone didn't hate me.

Okay, what am I doing, I need to get ready for school.

I climbed out of bed and walked to the bathroom where I washed up and got ready. I braided my hair as I walked out of the bathroom to my dresser. I looked at all of my second-hand clothes and try to pick out a remotely normal looking outfit.

I settle on my black skinny jeans and forest green peasant style shirt with a brown belt around my waist. I run downstairs and grab an apple before slipping on my boots and grabbing my bag.

"Prim! Let's go!" I call up the stairs.

"'Kay! Coming!" She responds. I watch as she bounds down the steps and grabs a piece of toast. We step outside and start our walk towards school. I walk Prim to the middle school section of the campus and give her a kiss on the forehead.

"'Kay, so we'll meet at the center courtyard after school, right?" I ask.

"Yup. You know, Kat, I'm not two anymore, I'm in eighth grade, you don't need to protect me all the time." She says as she gives me a look.

"I know, but that doesn't mean I don't want to." I put my hand on her shoulder.

"You have to let me grow up sometime, Katniss." Prim says. I sigh because I know she's right, but I just want to protect her forever, I don't want to let her go yet. I've been taking care of my family for six years and I'm still in that mode now.

When I was eleven, my father was killed in a freak accident at work. He was a construction worker and an unstable structure collapsed on top of him, shattering over twenty of his bones and puncturing his left lung. The worst part was that he didn't die immediately, he suffered for a while before he drowned in his own blood.

After he died, my mother was never the same, she died inside too. She just stopped functioning, didn't gt out of bed, didn't cook, and couldn't even bother to see if her eleven and seven-year-old daughters were okay.

My mother didn't stop working, but that's all she did, she worked as much as she could and we were lucky if we saw her for an hour a day. If she wasn't working, she was sleeping. That's why I had to take up raising Prim. Our mother wasn't around and I had to make sure that Prim had a good head on her shoulders.

That was when I had just turned eleven. Now, I'm seventeen and it's the same thing, my mother works night and day while I raise my sister and resent her for essentially abandoning us. She barely speaks to at all, and I can see that even after six years, it still breaks Prim's heart every day.

I take a deep breath and exhale slowly. I look at Prim.

"You're right, Prim, I'm sorry, I just want to make sure that you're always okay."

"I will be, Katniss. I love you." She smiles at me.

"I love you too." I make my way towards the high school and head towards the main office. A woman sits at a computer typing away furiously. She doesn't even notice me until I clear my throat.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, my dear. I was quite distracted as you can see." She gestures to the computer and I nod. "I'm Effie Trinket." She holds out her perfectly manicured hand and as I shake it, I feel her long polished fingernails dig into my palm. I grimace.

"I'm Katniss Everdeen, I'm new here."

"Ah, yes!" She types away on the keypad and soon whirring sounds emit from the printer behind her. She pulls a slip of paper from it and hands it to me. "Here's your schedule, Dear."

"Thank you." I nod to her.

"Have a nice day!" She shoots me a smile.

I'm lost.

I sigh, I've been going in circles and I can't find my freakin' homeroom. Ugh, my day can't get any wors-

My inner thoughts are cut off when I crash into a body and am sent sprawling to the floor. All my books and supplies scatter in all directions and I flinch as my butt hits the floor with a thud. Ouch.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, Freak." A mean looking girl sneers down at me. "You're gonna mess up my clothes. Look, I don't know where you come from, but around here, it's considered rude to disrespect people who are better than you, in case you didn't know."

Her friends and she cackle at my expense as my cheeks burn in embarrassment and anger. I get up and stalk off in search of my class.

I finally find it at the very end of the hall. I open the door and step in, spotting kids scattered about the room, catching up with friends, messing with each other, and making out. Ew.

I take a seat in the back of the class and sit there awkwardly. Soon, kids are filing in and filling the seats, chattering about their summers with their friends or proclaiming how much they're dreading this year.

Soon, the bell rings and the talking ceases as everyone prepares for the horror to come.

Get ready everyone, here comes senior year.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys, so I'm not sure what my update schedule will be, but I'm going to try to update as often as possible. Chances are that it will be kind of sporadic though.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or the Hunger Games, they all were created to Suzanne Collins.**

A scraggly looking old guy walked into the classroom. For a second I thought he was a hobo who had randomly wandered into our school.

"No, he's not," said the girl sitting next to me, "he's our teacher." Oh, shoot, did I just say that out loud?Wait...he's our teacher?

Oh joy.

"Mornin' kids, I'm Mr. Abernathy. Now I'm supposed to give you a lay down of the rules and welcome you to our school here and yada, yada, yada...but I don't want to so I won't." He sat back in his chair and kicked his legs up on the desk. "Go ahead and just...do what you want."

Immediately the classroom is filled with chatter as people turned to their friends to gossip or made their way to the corner to grope each other. Eugh.

I glanced at our teacher to see if he noticed, but he's asleep at his desk. Is this what Mr. Abernathy's class will be like every day?

"My name's Annie," a soft voice spoke from beside me, "you must be new, I've never seen you around here before."

It's the same girl who spoke to me earlier. "Uh, yeah, I am. My name's Katniss."

"Nice to meet you, Katniss." Annie replied with a smile.

"You too." She seemed really nice and I didn't want to make any more enemies on my first day of school. Judging from that girl and her friends earlier, I might already have a couple. Yay.

"You know, I may not know you all that well, Katniss, but I think even a blind man could tell that you're thinking really hard right now." Annie smirked, "What's up?"

Should I tell her? I mean, I don't really know her all that well. She seems trustworthy, though, I feel like I can tell her...

"It's just...there was this girl earlier that I crashed into and I didn't do it on purpose, but..." I said.

"She and her gaggle of friends started making fun of you and now she hates you?" She guesses.

"Yeah, that." I replied.

"Doesn't surprise me, that's Glimmer Campbell, she's the queen bee of the school." Annie said with a roll of her eyes. "She's one of the populars here at Panem High."

"One of?" I asked. There were more?

"Yup, Glimmer leads their group alongside Cato Hudson, then there's Marvel Phillips, Clove French, Cashmere and Gloss Taylor, Gale Hawthorne, and Delly Cartwright." She lists off, a disgusted look on her face. "They think they're so much better than all of us just 'cuz they're rich and can buy everything they want and can get bought _out of_ anything they do."

"Eugh, I hate those people." I said.

"Same, my friends and I call them the Careers because they'll never have to get jobs or work for anything, they can just leech off of their parents." She informed me.

"You have friends?" I asked.

She raised an eyebrow.

I slapped my hand over my mouth. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean it that way! It just came out wrong and then-"

She laughed, "It's fine, Katniss, I understood what you meant."

"Okay," I sighed in relief, "I really just meant: who are your friends?"

"Oh, you'll see, you can sit with us at lunch." Then she thought. "I mean, unless, you're already sitting with someone, I just assumed since you're new that-"

"I'd love to, Annie." I smiled at her.

"Cool, can I see your schedule?" She asked. I handed her the slip of paper with my schedule on it.

"Okay, so, bad news, I don't have fourth period with you, which is what's right before lunch, but we do have second, third, and sixth period together."

"That's great, so where should I go for lunch?" I asked her.

"How about you meet me in center court? You know where that is, right?" I nod my head. "Okay, you can meet me there, and I'll walk you over to where we eat." She said.

"Sounds great." I replied just as the bell rang out.

"Okay, see you in second period, Katniss." Annie waved goodbye.

"Yeah, see ya, Annie." I waved back at her and walked towards my locker. I had to try the combination four times before it opened up for me. I reached into my locker to grab my first and second period binders. English and Government.

I had just shut my locker when I felt a body lean over mine. I looked up to see a boy my age leaning against my locker, entirely too close to me for comfort. He was tall, over six feet, with dark hair, grey eyes, and tan skin. He was relatively good-looking, but you could just tell that he thought he was all that and more. He had an air of cockiness about him that I already, really hated.

"Um, excuse me." I mumbled. He planted his right arm over my head and blocked my exits with his imposing body, trapping me.

"Hey, where do you think you're going, Sweetheart? I think you and I could get along just fin. You're pretty hot, you wanna-" I cut him off.

"You know what? I need to get to class." I try to duck under his arm, but he moves it to block me.

"Hey, don't walk away from me," He warns, "You don't know how many girls-"

"She said no, Gale." A deep voice said. Oh, Gale Hawthorne. Annie had warned me about him earlier. I took a look at the boy who had just spoken.

Woah, I thought as I caught sight of him. He was a little shorter than Gale, just about six feet, with curly golden hair that fell just over his forehead. Strong jaw and-by the looks of it-a body to die for. He had pale skin and He wore a burgundy hoodie and black jeans. But what captured my attention the most were his eyes. They were the most beautiful blue I'd ever seen, so clear with little golden flecks in them. Holy-

"Stay out of this Mellark, this isn't any of your business." Gale snarls.

"It is when you're clearly bothering her, man, now let her go." The boy grabbed Gale's arm and removed it from the locker. I quickly slipped away and stood behind the boy. "Just go, Gale."

Gale's nostrils flared and he let out an angry puff of air before he stalked off.

"You okay?" The boy asked as he turned to me.

"Y-yeah, thanks." I stuttered.

"No problem, I'm Peeta, by the way."

"Katniss."

"Beautiful name, just like you." He said with a boyish grin. I blushed. My knees almost gave out. They would have if I hadn't been sure that he hadn't been lying, I knew I wasn't beautiful, or even pretty. "What's your next class?"

He broke me out of my thoughts with a question. "English with Mrs. Wiress." I told Peeta.

"Cool, me too. I can show you the way."

We walked side by side, he was telling me how much I was gonna love this school and I was thinking that maybe, just maybe, I wasn't gonna hate it here so much.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey, guys! I'm baaaaackkkkkk! I'm actually having trouble coming up with a plot line for this story, so please read and review. Throw out suggestions so I can write a story that you'll all love.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing but the storyline, it all belongs to Suzanne Collins**

We hurried to English, getting there just before the bell rang. Peeta and I sat down in the back of the classroom since the two seats were the only ones left. Not that I minded, I liked the back.

Our teacher, Ms. Wiress, was a woman in her late sixties, with large, framed glasses. I almost fell asleep as her quiet voice read the syllabus aloud to us. I'm so tired. Maybe if...I just...close...my...eye-

I was startled awake by something smacking me in the side of my head. My eyes popped open and I sat up straight in my chair, looking around for my assailant. My search halts when I see Peeta's smirk.

My eyes narrowed. "Yes?" I said sharply.

"You should stay awake, this is important stuff." For a second, I tuned into Ms. Wiress's lecture:

"...and that, class, is how the semi-colon came to be..."

I glared at Peeta and he just snickered at me. My eyes drifted down to his desk where a paper sits with something drawn on it. I could make out a couple shapes, but the faint lines didn't aid me in my attempt of trying to make out the image.

I sensed Peeta's eyes on me and I looked up to see his eyes trained on me. I opened my mouth to apologize for staring, but stopped when he pushed the paper closer to me.

I looked down at it and gaped at what I saw.

It was a girl. A girl who I guessed was supposed to be me, but was drawn was to prettily to be me. It was me from his point of view earlier as we walked to class. The beautiful girl's hair was pulled back in a braid just like mine, and she was wearing the same outfit as me, but it still wasn't me. Her eyes were a silvery-gray, they gleamed with happiness as she told a story about her younger sister, but still held an air of mystery, had a guarded sense to them. Her skin was perfection, without a scar or blemish to be seen. The girl's hand tucked an errant strand o hair behind her ear as she spoke.

It was beautiful, but it was a lie.

The picture was amazing, I had no words to describe it. Unfortunately, Peeta took my silence for dislike.

"I know it's not very good, it's just a doodle-" he started.

"Peeta," I cut him off, "It's amazing."

"Well, that's not all me, I only drew what I saw. " He informed me. I blushed a deep shade of red.

"Well, regardless, you're very talented, I've never seen such a life-like drawing."

"Thanks." He shrinks under my compliment. The rest of the class flew by quickly, nothing monumental happening.

The bell rang and we all collected our things. I shoved my binder in my backpack, and slung it over my shoulder.

"So, where's your next class?" Peeta asked from beside me. I began to walk towards the door as I answered.

"I have Government." I replied. As I exited the doorway, I looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of something to indicate where I should be going. I didn't know how to get anywhere in the school and it was really frustrating.

"Oh, I have Government, too. Who's your teacher?"

"Mrs. Collins."

"Oh, I have Ms. Twill, but her classroom is right next to Mrs. Collins's, I can show you the way there." He offered.

"Oh, thanks, that'd be great!" I said enthusiastically. We walked through the halls before we finally made it to our classrooms.

"Well, here we are!" Peeta exclaimed. "See you later, the, Katniss."

I waved goodbye to him, saddened because I had really enjoyed talking to him. I brightened, though, when I remembered that Annie was in this class with me.

I walked in and scanned the room for Annie. I spotted her and she waved me over, moving her bag off the seat she had saved for me.

"Thanks for saving me a seat, Annie." I thanked her as I sat down at the desk.

"No prob." She said. "How was English?"

"Oh, it was fine, a little boring, though. Mrs. Wiress's voice could put me to sleep." We laughed and Annie agreed.

We chatted for a couple minutes until someone sat down behind me. I turned around and saw a good-looking guy staring straight back at me. He had dazzling green eyes, silky copper hair...and a sly smile that just put me off so much I couldn't get past that.

He looked like a nice enough guy, but was probably a flirt.

"Finnick!" Annie exclaimed. She threw her arms around his neck and planted a kiss on his lips. Oh, he must be Annie's boyfriend. Sorry for mentally insulting you, dude.

"Annie! I've missed you so much dearest Annalise! The years away from you have been agony!" Finnick proclaimed melodramatically with a hand on his heart."

"Finnick, I saw you yesterday, stop being such a drama queen." Annie rolled her eyes.

"Oh," he said, "well, it felt like years, my beloved." He fake sobbed. "Being away from your beauty for so long is unimaginably painful."

Then I remembered something he said. "Wait, you're name is Annalise?"

Annie shakes her head. "No, Finnick just likes to call me that to give things a more dramatic flair."

"Oh."

Just then the bell rang and we all shifted in our seats to look at the board. A woman in her forties walked in. She had a kind smile on her face and she welcomed us to her classroom enthusiastically.

She went over what we were going to do this year, her grading methods, and a bunch of other beginning of the year stuff.

I looked at Annie and Finnick. I thought of Peeta and marveled at how I'd already made three friends. That's like a new record.

Maybe...maybe I was wrong about this place. Maybe I'll like it here.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey, people! So, I haven't gotten any reviews! I don't mind all that much, but if you don't like the way the story is going or you have a suggestion for something that should happen, post a review and I'll try to get back to you about it.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or the Hunger Games, they belong to Suzanne Collins.**

After English and Government, we had a break for about 15 minutes before we had to go to third period.

I pulled out my schedule to check my next class: P.E.

Finally, something I'm good at. I've excelled at P.E. all throughout my life, it's one of my favorite classes. I'm built like an athlete naturally, and am used to strenuous work from my time in the woods.

When I was seven, my father took me into the woods and began teaching me the basics of archery and hunting. By the time I was eleven I had mastered the skill. Since my mother's job didn't pay too well, I sometimes had to take to the woods to get us some dinner that night.

I headed towards the gym at the center of the school campus. I knew that today we wouldn't be dressing or doing actual P.E. today, but hey, that still meant a free period, right?

I walked into the gym filled with students milling around, talking to their friends at the bleachers. I spotted Annie sitting by two girls. I waved at her and she motioned me over enthusiastically.

I moved over to the group and greeted them. Annie introduced me two her two friends.

"Katniss, this is Johanna, and this Rue." she says. Johanna is a slim girl about two inches taller thanmy 5'2" frame. She has long auburn hair and large brown eyes. Rue was a dark-skinned girl about an inch or two shorter than me with long, curly black hair. Rue was sweet to me and Johanna had a snark that I knew I'd grow to like.

We talked for a bit until we were interrupted by someone's presence behind me. I turned around and was met by a beautiful pair of cerulean eyes. Peeta.

"Hey, Peeta."

"Hey, Katniss."

We smiled at each other.

"Hey, lovebirds, the rest of us exist too!" Johanna's biting voice said. I looked up and saw everyone staring at us. I blushed.

I looked behind Peeta and saw Finnick and some other guys I didn't know. One was hulking boy with dark skin and hair cut short, his biceps were practically the size of my head, but something in his brown eyes told me that even though he could kill me with one punch, he wouldn't do it.

I hope.

The second boy was tall with a slim build, he had dirty-blonde hair and defined arms.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot you guys didn't really know each other." Peeta said. "This is Thresh," he pointed to the giant boy, "and this is Blight." He motioned to the other boy. "Guys, this is Katniss." We greeted each other.

"So, we finally all have a class together. This is probably the first good thing that's happened to me all day." Johanna sighed.

"You might want to rethink that, Jo." Finnick said.

"What do you mean?" Finnick pointed to the far end of the gym where another group stood.

Johanna groaned, "Are you kidding me? The Careers are all in this class too?" Oh, so those were the Careers. "What are they trying to do? Start World War III in our school?"

"I don't know, Jo, I don't know." Blight said as he crossed his arms. We continued our conversation, everyone relaying what they did over the summer.

"...and then, Finnick got so scared, he started crying!" We all busted out laughing at Finnick's expense.

"I didn't cry because I was scared, I that demon donkey kicked a bunch of dust in my eyes!" He retorted.

"Finnick, you jumped into my arms." Peeta said.

"That's just 'cuz I love you, Peety-baby." Finnick moved towards Peeta making kissy-faces.

"Woah, woah, woah, hands off my man, Peeta, he's taken." The she smirked, "You can have Katniss."

We both blushed, "Wait, what?" I asked.

"I mean, it's only logical, you two are the only single ones in the group." Blight said.

"You're all dating someone?" I asked.

"Everyone but Peeta. I'm dating Blight, Finnick is with Annie, and Thresh is dating Rue." Said Johanna.

They continued to pick and tease at us for the remainder of the period. The bell rang out and I picked up my stuff to walk to my next class. Calculus.

Ugh, I've always hated math, ever since I was young it was always my least favorite part of the day.

"Hey, where you headed?" A voice came from behind me. I turned to see Peeta.

"Oh, uh, calculus with Mr. Beetee."

"Cool, me too!" He exclaimed. "You know, maybe we should exchange schedules, see what classes we have together." I nod and we exchange schedules. My eyes bug out of my head as I check his schedule. We have the last four classes together. P.E., Calculus, Music, and AP Biology.

"Woah, we have our last four classes together!" Peeta almost shouted. I nodded excitedly. Five classes with Peeta altogether. I was so excited because out of everyone I met today, Peeta had made me feel the most comfortable. We'd become fast friends, a first for me.

There was also...something else. I didn't know what it was, but whenever I was around him I got this little feeling in my stomach. A flutter. I mean, I'd heard girls talk about it in the locker rooms and bathrooms.

But I'm sure I'm not feeling what they were. I mean they would always talk about this feeling whenever they...well, I'm sure it's not the same thing. It's not possible. They'd always talk this way about the boy...the boy they thought was handsome, sweet, kind...not that Peeta wasn't all of those things, he was that and so much more. But, they'd always talk this way about the boy they'd end up ...dating later. And that couldn't be it.

I couldn't...like Peeta, right?


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey, y'all! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, my older sister just left for college and I've been taking it harder than I expected.**

 **Anyway, thanks to the four readers who reviewed! I like reading them to see how I'm doing in this story, I'm really glad that you guys all like it though.**

 **Disclaimer: Again, I still don't own the characters o the Hunger Games, they all belong to Suzanne Collins.**

During Calculus, Peeta and I sat in the back of the classroom next to each other. While the teacher went over the syllabus and course description, we sat there and talked.

We talked about anything and everything. Peeta told me about his father, his two older brothers, and his mother. In turn, I told him about Prim and my mother, although I avoided the topic of my father, and I was grateful he didn't ask about him, even though I know he noticed.

We talked about school. I told him how horrified I was in Mr. Abernathy's class, while he told me how his homeroom teacher, Mrs. Mags was basically deaf.

"...and she just kept talking! Everyone was with their friends, yelling across the room and she didn't even notice!" We laughed together. I glanced down at his desk and saw a paper covered with what Peeta called "doodles", but the rest of the world calls "masterpieces". Just then, a thought occurred to me.

"Hey, Peeta?" I asked. He raised his eyebrows, signaling me to go on. "Why are you taking music class if you're so good at art? I mean, it'd be an easy A for you."

"That's the thing," he replied, "It's too easy. I took art my freshman year, and it was like, second grade level. It was like they thought we didn't know how to draw a line." We laughed.

"How come you're taking music?" He asked me.

"Because..." I tried to find the right wording, "After my family, it's what I love most in the world."

"Really?" I nodded. "Why?"

I hesitated. I had only just met Peeta that day and this was a really personal topic. Was I ready to share it with him? With anyone?

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." He said. Strangely enough it was the fact that he said that that convinced me to tell him. That convinced me I could trust him.

"When I was young..."I started, "when I was young my father would take me out into the woods. It was out there that he would sing. He would sing loud and clear and you could just hear everything stop. All the creatures, usually bursting with sounds, would go quiet. All the birds would stop and listen. My father would sing at home, too. He would sing to my mother because he knew how much she loved it. He would sing my sister and I to sleep. Whenever something was going wrong, he would sing and all the stress from the situation would just disappear. When he sang at home, it was still beautiful, but when I was in the woods with him, that was when I realized just how special his voice was. When even the birds, the creatures that were made to sing, would stop just to listen to him." As I spoke about my father my eyes had glassed over and grown moist as I remembered how much I truly missed him.

"He sounds like an amazing man." Peeta remarked.

I let a single tear run down my cheek. "He was."

Peeta looked at me, "Oh, Katniss, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset. I shouldn't have brought it up."

"No, no it's fine. I'm glad you did. Those were some of my best memories of my father and how else can we keep him alive, but to remember him."

"That's a nice way of looking at it." He said. Just then the bell rings for lunch. Since Peeta ate with Annie, we had decided that he would show me the way rather than having me go to the center court and having Annie come find me.

We walked towards a large tree, I could see the group sitting under it, talking and joking around. We sat down and greeted them. We both sat down and soon everyone was talking and having a great time. That is...until we were unpleasantly interrupted.

"Hey, Losers, why don't you get out of our way." Said a deep voice from behind me. I turned around to see a boy behind me. He was blonde and had a frame that could easily crush me. Although, the guys in our group could probably take him down easy, even if it was one on one.

"We're not in your way, Cato, now leave us alone." Johanna growled back at him. Then his eyes landed on me.

"Ah, freah meat, I see." He smirked, "You chose the wrong group, girl. You're pretty hot, you might even be able to fit in with us, not these losers. What do you say?"

I stared at him in disgust about to reply how I would rather go get run over by a herd of cows when I was interrupted. "Ugh, no, not her. She's the ugly twit who ran into me earlier. What's wrong, stupid? Don't you know how to walk?" Glimmer sneered at me.

My face burned in embarrassment. Then it got worse. "Yeah, I think Glimmer's right, Cato. This skank was too stupid to say yes when I asked her out earlier. I think she belongs right where she is, with the dogs." Gale said. Wow, first day and I already have insults being thrown my way. Great job Katniss. My eyes filled with tears as the insults came flying my way. Peeta noticed.

"Hey!" He yelled at Gale. "Watch it! Just because she said no to you doesn't mean she's stupid, maybe she just has standards."

Gale's nostrils flared. "What's you just say to me baker boy? You better watch your mouth before it says something that has my fist coming right at it." He's coming a Peeta now, getting closer and closer, trying to pick a fight.

But Peeta has other ideas. "I don't wan to fight, Gale, you know I won't fight you or anyone else who tries, so why don't we drop it and you leave us alone?" Then something weird happens: they actually leave. What just happened?


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey readers! I'm back with yet another chapter, though I do have to admit, it's getting a little harder for me to write my chapters. So, to help me keep my story alive, I'm asking for you guys to please review and send in suggestions.**

 **This story is really fun to write, but I'm not exactly sure where the plot will end this story.**

 **Help me out?**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or any of these characters. They all belong to Suzanne Collins.**

I was confused about what had just happened, but the bell interrupted me before I could say anything. I shook my head and made a mental note to ask Annie about it later.

"Ready to go to class, Katniss?" Peeta asked from beside me. Class...What was my next class again? Let's see, I already had English, Government, P.E., Calculus, next is...Music! Oh, finally, I've been waiting all day for this class.

"Yeah, let's go!" I said enthusiastically before darting off towards the arts hall. I dodged groups of people as I quickly ran towards class. I was on a roll and I could of kept going had I not heard something.

"Katniss! Wait for me!" It was Peeta who I had forgotten and left behind. "You know we have, like, six minutes, right?" He was out of breath and I found it kind of funny.

"Maybe I was just trying to get away from you." I teased. He placed his hand over his heart in mock hurt.

"I'm hurt, Ms. Everdeen! I thought you enjoyed the pleasure of my company." He said in a faux, haughty British accent. I busted out laughing at him.

I was glad I had met Peeta, I was sure at the beginning of the day that I would not survive a single hour. But, I was proved wrong when I met Peeta, Annie, and all their friends who helped me feel like I belong.

"Why, Ms. Everdeen," He said, still in the accent. "I know I am an attractive specimen, but I do believe we must get to class." I blushed. I hadn't realized I was staring at him when I spaced out.

We quickly got a move on and walked briskly towards class. This time, we took two seats at the front of the class, I didn't want to miss a thing.

After the bell rang, a dark skinned man in his mid-thirties walked into the room.

"Hello, class, my name is Mr. Kurtz, but I hate being called that so please, call me Cinna. I've worked here in the music department for ten years and I still love it. This class will be helping you explore music. Help you find out where your talents lay, and what speaks to you." He said. I was already getting excited, this wouldn't be like the music class at my old school where all we did was sing bars all day, this would be real music that we got to perform and hear. "Now, for today, I'm just going to let you all do what you want. I'm going to let you guys get to know each other, as you do, I will be walking around the room, getting to know each of you. But, be prepared, tomorrow, I will let you perform any skill you'd like to get a gauge of what you'll be interested in pursuing, and where you are gifted." Perform? Oh, god, this wouldn't end well. I hated being the center of attention, it's why most of my presentation grades at my old school were all...well zeroes.

"So, Katniss, what do you want to do?" Peeta asked me. I thought about it. Most of the students were just sitting around, talking to each other...but we were in a room filled with instruments, this room was made to play music, the acoustics were probably amazing. I looked over and in the corner sat a beautiful grand piano.

"I wonder if we can..." I said staring at the piano. I want to play it so bad, it's been so long since I touched a piano, a couple of months.

Peeta saw the look on my face and smiled at me. "I'm sure it's fine, go for it, I want to hear you play."

I hesitantly walked over and took the seat, Peeta leaned against the piano, watching me intently. I pressed a key as a clear sound rang out, perfectly tuned, it made me smile. Soon my fingers were flying across the keys, playing a sweet, flowing sound. Before I knew it, my voice joined in:

 _I remember tears streaming down your face  
When I said, "I'll never let you go."  
When all those shadows almost killed your light  
I remember you said, "Don't leave me here alone, "  
But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight_

 _Just close your eyes  
The sun is going down  
You'll be alright  
No one can hurt you now  
Come morning light  
You and I'll be safe and sound_

 _Don't you dare look out your window, darling.  
Everything's on fire  
The war outside our door keeps raging on  
Hold onto this lullaby  
Even when the music's gone  
Gone_

 _Just close your eyes  
The sun is going down  
You'll be alright  
No one can hurt you now  
Come morning light  
You and I'll be safe and sound_

 _Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh  
La, la (la, la)  
La, la (la, la)  
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh  
La, la (la, la)_

 _Just close your eyes  
You'll be alright  
Come morning light,  
You and I'll be safe and sound..._

 _Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, oh, oh_

My Finger struck the last key and silence hung in the air for a minute. I looked up to see everyone in the class staring at me. I blushed, they had all heard me sing.

"Ugh, she sounded like a dying cat!" Shrieked a high-pitched voice. I looked for the source and found Glimmer staring back at me. She smirked as I shrunk back and felt ashamed. Peeta, however, grew angry. You could see it on his face, he was about to say something when a voice cut him off:

"I think, Ms. Campbell, that you need to get your hearing checked. Because that was simply the most breathtaking piece I've ever heard in all my years teaching at this school." Cinna complimented, a small smile grew on my face.

"But...but what about my song last year? It was way better than hers!" Glimmer protested. Cinna simply stared at her for a minute. Then he turned back to me.

"Like I said, that was the best song I've ever heard performed at this school, Ms...?" He said. Oh, he was asking for my name.

"Everdeen, Katniss Everdeen." I told him. He smiled back at me warmly.

"Well, Ms. Everdeen, you are truly talented. Tell me, why was it that song that you chose?" By this time, all of the other students had become preoccupied with something else, no one was listening to our conversation.

"It's about safety, something I find hard to come by. Something I have to work really hard for." I admit to him. He smiles warmly at me.

"And that is how I know we will get along. I love that you chose a song because it resonated with you, not because you sounded good singing it. You see, you can be a talented singer, with a great voice and it will sound good, people will like it. But, even if you don't have a good voice, which you do, if you sing with emotion...people will _love_ it." Cinna stated. I smiled big because he understood me. He wasn't teaching us to sing with just our mouths, he was telling us to sing with our entire selves. Music meant something to him,just like it did to me.

Cinna had walked away to check up on some other students when I saw Peeta walking towards me. He had moved away when Cinna was talking to me to give us some space. He was smiling wide. When he reached me, he said one thing that made me think that maybe...maybe I did like him:

"Well, you must have inherited your father's genes. Because when you started singing, I swear...I swear to god, all the birds outside stopped to listen."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I'm so sorry guys! I know that it's taken me a while to update, but I've just been really distracted!**

 **I forgot this on the last chapter: Song creds- Taylor Swift, Safe and Sound.**

 **Disclaimer: All rights go to Suzanne Collins, I only own the storyline.**

Music was really my last eventful class yesterday, in AP Bio there was a seating chart, so Peeta and I got sat on opposite sides of the classroom. It was boring and I longed to talk to him.

From across the room we has made stupid faces at each each other and tried to make the other laugh. I almost cracked a couple of times, which surprised me. I usually had the best mug face out of all the people I know. Damn you, Peeta.

Today was my second day of school, so I wouldn't need to go to homeroom. I was at to my locker getting my books when I felt a presence behind me. Scared that it would be Gale again, I turned around quickly, knee read to meet his family jewels.

Instead I was met by a pair of gorgeous blue eyes that made my heart skip a couple of beats.

"Peeta! You nearly gave me a heart-attack! I thought you were Gale." I exclaimed.

"Sorry, Kat. Although, I am hurt. I feel like you should be able to tell me from Gale. Every time I'm around him, it's like the air is screaming "brooding"." We laughed.

"Well I'm sorry, Peeta, but I don't think I've been around this school long enough to sense people's "airs"." I told him.

We still had about ten minutes until class started, so Peeta and I temporarily parted ways so that he wouldn't "Piss my pants" as he so eloquently put it.

While he was gone, I sat down on a bench in the courtyard to wait. I was just sitting there, enjoying the peace when suddenly:

"Look, girl, I don't know who you think you are, but back off. He's mine." I looked up and saw a girl sneering down at me. She was blonde and busty, but wore _way_ too much makeup.

"Uh, who are you? And who are you talking about?" I asked quizzically.

"Delly Cartwright, you retard. And I'm talking about Peeta, he's mine." Huh? She must have seen it in my expression because she went on. "Don't play dumb, I saw how you were looking at him. And you shouldn't bother, because he likes me. I mean, who wouldn't like me over you? I'm everything he could ever want. You just have nothing to offer him, except maybe embarrassment."

I recoiled slightly at the insult. I mean, I knew I wasn't pretty, but I've never had it thrown in my face like that before. My eyes filled with tears and I looked way.

"Aw, is the ugly little loser gonna cry? Well, good. Maybe you understand it now. You're a nothing, you are only holding Peeta back and you should really stop." She said. "He deserves someone like me, or at least someone better than you." She was right, but it still hurt. I forced back my my tears and got up, her smirking in triumph.

I hurried to English class and sat down, even though I still had about five minutes until the bell. I just sat there and thought. I really was holding Peeta back. He probably could have had so many more friends if not for me. And what was I thinking, he would never like me back, he was probably just sorry for me.

By the time the bell had rung I'd made up my mind and resolved to stop dragging Peeta down. I would stop talking to Peeta and let him have better friends. He'd probably be relieved anyway.

Peeta walked in and took his seat next to me. He poked me in the arm teasingly, "Really, Katniss? You left me alone, out there." He laughed. When I didn't respond he became concerned. "Katniss? Are you okay?" I wanted so badly to tell him that I wasn't, but then I wouldn't be able to save him from friendship with me.

He tried for about half of the class before he realized it was futile. But every once in a while, he would shoot me worried glances.

Government passed very much the same way, I decided to give Finnick and Annie the same courtesy and spare them of my friendship. They tried to talk to me, too, but eventually gave up. Good.

In P.E., I knew that I couldn't face the whole group of them, so I stayed for role call, but immediately after, I left to the bathroom. I sat in a stall on top of the toilet seat and waited for the class to be over. It wouldn't matter that I wasn't there, anyway, it was another free period.

There was another reason that I didn't want to be out there. I remembered yesterday when they had talked about how all of the Careers were in the class with us. Delly was one of the careers. I couldn't face her again.

After sitting in there a while I heard some girls walk in.

"Katniss? Katniss, are you in here?"

"Of course she's in here, Rue, we saw her walk in." Johanna.

They walked past all the stalls, but stopped at mine. Crap, they must have seen my feet. They knocked on the door.

"Katniss? Is that you?" Asked Annie. Should I respond?

"Um...yeah, it's me." I said slowly, unsure of where this was going.

"Katniss, what's wrong? Come out of the stall." Rue said.

"Um, no I'm good." I replied.

"Please, Katniss, we just want to talk to you. Peeta said you wouldn't talk to him earlier in English and you did the same thing to me and Finnick in Government. What's going on, sweetie?" Annie asked me.

I took a deep breath and slowly unlatched the door. I stepped out and was met by the worried faces of Annie, Johanna, and Rue.

"What's up, Katniss?"Rue's eyebrows were furrowed.

"Delly..." I took a deep breath. "Delly came up to me today earlier and told me to stay away from Peeta. She told me that I was holding him back and that I was too much of a loser to be friends with him. Delly told me that I shouldn't even...shouldn't even bother liking him because he would never like me back." they smirked when I told them that I liked Peeta. "She told me that it wouldn't matter anyway because he likes her. According to her, I'm an ugly nobody with on business whatsoever messing up Peeta's life. I figured I might as well extend that courtesy to you guys."

"Are you brainless?" Johanna asked. "Katniss, the only reason she called you ugly, tried to break you is because she's threatened by you."

I'm bewildered. "Why would she feel threatened by me?"

They all stare at me.

"Because you're hot!" Rue yells at me. I look at her quizzically. "Katniss, you're beautiful and it's obvious to anyone with eyes that Peeta likes you." Peeta likes me?

"But...Delly said he liked her..." I was so confused.

"I guarantee you 110 percent, Peeta doesn't like Delly. He despises her just as much as the rest of us do." Johanna says.

We talked for a little bit more and as I went over every part of my conversation with Delly, they disproved it. I felt so much better after we finished.

We walked out of the bathroom after a little while and all the boys' heads turned to look at us. As Peeta walked over to meet me he began asking a question:

"Katniss, what's wro-"

I cut him off with a hug. I wrapped my arms around his waist and he wrapped his around my shoulders. I looked up into his concerned eyes and I knew...I knew I was royally screwed.

 **A/N: So, I know I made Delly really mean which is way OOC for her, so if you don't like that sorry. But did you guys all like the Everlark at the end?**

 **Review please!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hey people! Thank you to all those who have reviewed for this story! It makes me so happy to know that you're enjoying it.**

 **So, if you haven't noticed my update schedule has been kind of sporadic, sorry. Chances are, my writing will continue to be like this so...yeah.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or any of these characters, they belong to Suzanne Collins.**

 _One Month Later_

So, it has been a month since school started and nothing monumental had happened. School wasn't too bad, my grades had stayed up, and the Careers(for the most part) had left me alone.

I mean, I still had the occasional glares and shoves, but nothing I couldn't handle. I had experienced much worse at my old school. And, besides, now I had my friends with me, they provided me with comfort just by being there.

I walked into my Government class and took my seat next to Annie. She and Finnick were chatting away amiably about what was going on in the school. I tuned them out, not caring. Instead I thought back to yesterday in English class, Peeta had drawn me a picture of Prim and I.

Peeta had met Prim two weeks into school. He had walked with me to center court saying that he simply _must_ meet my sister who I would talk non-stop about...

 _We walked towards center court, weaving our way through crowds of people leaving school for the day, looking for Prim. Peeta had insisted coming with me to meet Prim._

 _I spotted two blonde braids. Prim sat on a bench talking to another girl with long brown hair. As we were walking over, the girl got up and waved goodbye to Prim, moving towards a car waiting for her in the parking lot._

 _Prim looked up as we made it over to her. "Hey, Kat! Hey...Katniss's friend." She giggled._

" _Hey, Little Duck, this is Peeta. Peeta, this is my sister Prim." I introduced the two of them.._

" _So, you're the perfect little sister I've been hearing about for two weeks, huh? Well, I'm happy to say I can understand would be proud to have a beautiful sister like you." Peeta winked at Prim, who blushed furiously at the compliment._

" _Laying it on a little thick, aren't you, Peeta? You don't have to impress me, I hear enough about you from Katniss at home, anyway." Prim smirked. It was my turn to blush as I glared at Prim. I didn't talk about him that much...did I?_

" _Well, regardless what Katniss has said about either of us, it is very nice to meet you, Prim." Peeta smiled down at Prim and then turned to me. "So, I've gotta go, but I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"_

" _Yeah, see you tomorrow." He walked away with a wave and had soon disappeared into the crowd of people. I looked at where he had just been staring for a good couple of seconds before I was brought back to reality by a cough._

 _I looked to see where it came from and was met by Prim's gaze._

" _You like him, don't you, Katniss?"_

"...about you, Katniss?" I was broken from my thoughts by Annie. I looked up to see both Finnick and Annie staring at me.

"Huh?" I was clueless, having not heard any of their conversation.

Annie smirked. "I said 'are you going to watch soccer tryouts, Katniss?'" What is she talking about.

"What soccer tryouts?" I asked her, a confused expression on my face.

"School soccer tryouts are today. Peeta, Thresh, Blight, and I are trying out for the team again this year. You wanna come watch us get all sweaty and look as hot as Stephen Amell without a shirt?" Finnick waggled his eyebrows at me.

I laughed. "Yeah, why not?" If I was being completely honest with myself, Seeing Peeta play soccer will make me...more than happy. Ever since P.E. started, I lived for the one hour a day that I got to see Peeta playing sports. The boy was in shape. Sinfully so.

"I just hope that there's not drama this year." Annie sighed.

"What do you mean?" My eyebrows furrowed in curiosity.

"Last year, Peeta and I beat out Cato and Gale as team captains. That was the first chance that any of us got to be captains because the school doesn't let underclassmen do it. Let's just say...Cato and Gale didn't take too kindly to us stealing their thunder. Punches were thrown, suspensions were given, bruises were sustained..." Finnick admitted. My eyes widened. Were Cato and Gale's egos so big that they couldn't even take a loss with dignity? Ugh, they're disgusting.

Just then, the bell rang and class began. I hated Government. It was so boring and the teacher graded so harshly. My grade was a B+, but only because I had done all the extra credit possible. The class went as smoothly as possible, there were no interruptions and everyone just worked on the assignment quietly and without complaint.

The bell rang and we all headed outside for break, grateful for the brief reprieve from our schoolwork. Soon, though, it was time for P.E. I was so excited.

We had just started our self-defense and survival unit. As we all gathered in the gym, we looked around at the set-up. Our teacher, Coach Gloss, entered the room and claimed our attention with a loud whistle.

"As I can see, many of you are looking around at the stations you will be rotating through today. We'll

be teaching you students a plethora of self-defense and survival skills." He then proceeded to list off some of the many things we will be learning and situations we could use them for, but I stopped paying attention after I spotted a station in the far corner of the room. Archery.

As soon as the instructors let us go, I head straight for the archery station. I pick up a bow and a sheath of arrows, moving back to the mark on the floor. I load the bow and pull it back, it it loose and feels good, if only a bit strange because I'm used to my own. I slowly and gently bring the string back the a lax position before calling over to Peeta.

"Hey, Peeta?" He turns to look at me, taking in the sight of me with a bow and arrow in hand. "You know how I told you about when my father would take me into the woods? How he would sing?" Peeta nods recalling the conversation. "Well, he also taught me this."

And with that I put my feet in the proper position, pull back the string, and release. Sending the arrow flying.

Straight into the bulls-eye.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hey all ya readers! I'm back! So, sorry it's taken me a while, but I am just really busy.**

 **I need reviews! My creative ideas are running out and if yall don't tell me what you want, I'm gonna end on a really awkward note…**

 **Disclaimer: Still own nothing.**

I smiled as the arrow landed with a satisfying _thunk_. The rest of the class stared in awe at the perfectly shot arrow. People stopped what they were doing and just looked on as I went and retrieved the arrow. Suddenly I was being bombarded with questions;

"How did you do that?" "Can you teach me?" "How long did you practice for that?"

All questions were cut off, though, by a shrill voice. "It's just beginners luck, she probably can't do it again." Glimmer sneered confidently. I raised an eyebrow. Well, I couldn't very well back down from that challenge.

I grabbed another set of arrows and moved back to where I would shoot from. I strung an arrow and pulled it back. I released it and with a _whoosh_ it landed in the center of the target, yet again, perfectly.

I didn't stop there, though. I continued stringing arrows and letting them fly at the line of targets, each one finding their mark.

As I let the last arrow fly, I was mat by a revered silence by my peers. I blushed under all of their stares, searching the crowd and finding Peeta who was smiling wide at me. I smiled back.

"Well, well, well," said our instructor Brutus, "you seem to have some real talent there. But, archery is not the most essential fighting technique. If everyone would please join me on the wrestling mats."

We all followed him over to a section of mats in the very center of the gym. He told us about what we would be learning in wrestling and why it would be useful.

I was surprised, though, when he called Peeta and Cato to the mat to demonstrate. I eyed Peeta curiously and slightly worried. The boys got into position and waited for the cue to go. Coach Brutus blew the whistle and right off the bat, Peeta had Cato beat. He easily flipped him over and pinned him to the mat.

Coach Brutus informed us of Peeta's techniques as the boy in question got up along with Cato. I frowned when I saw the look on Cato's face, complete rage. He started moving towards Peeta, who's back was turned when I realized what was about to happen.

"Peeta!" i cried out in warning. He turned just in time to be met by a fist to the jaw. I screamed as Cato tackled him at the waist, causing them to go tumbling down to the floor.

They rolled around on the floor, but what was happening confused me. Peeta's hands were up protecting his face, but he wasn't fighting back, even though he had just demonstrated that he could.

Eventually, Coach Brutus and some of the guys in our group were able to separate them. Cato, who clearly started the fight, was sent to the principal's office, while Finnick was instructed to take Peeta to the nurse's office to check out his bruises and bleeding lip.

Lunch was fairly uneventful, Peeta returned to us with an icepack for his jaw and and some bandages for his cuts, other than that, though, he seemed fine.

I was dying to ask him why he didn't fight back, but decided I would save that topic for a later time.

There was yet another ask to homecoming in a big gesture, complete with bad singing, ripped signs, and lots and lots of Snapchat clips. They had been happening all week, and as much as I hated to admit it, it made me kind of jealous. I had admitted to myself that I liked Peeta, and I really wanted to go to homecoming with him.

But sadly, he hadn't asked me, and I had begun to suspect that he was going to ask someone else. I know the girls said that he liked me, but I still really doubted it. I mean, why would he like someone like me. He was handsome, strong, popular, kind, outgoing, while I was plain, unknown, awkward, and quiet. He deserved so much better than me.

The bell rang and Peeta and I headed to music class. We took our seats in the class and listened to Cinna speak.

"Today, we will be starting our very first project. You will be divided into partners and together, you two will do an arrangement of a piece with either an accompanist or with one of you on an instrument. You're music will be of your choice as will the the production and performance. You may choose to perform it live, or record it and hand it over to me to be played in front of the cast. You may now choose your partners."

Immediately Peeta and I turned to each other. "Partners?" We both said. We laughed and nodded. Just then, Glimmer came rushing over.

"Hey, Peeta, I know that you don't really want to be partners with Catpiss, so I came over to save you. She must have been annoying you, huh? So, do you wanna be my partner instead of hers?" Glimmer grasped his bicep with her long fingers. I glared at her.

"Actually, Glimmer, _Katniss_ and I both want to be partnered with each other. And frankly, you're the one that's annoying me right now." Peeta stated firmly. Glimmer flushed a dark red and stomped away furiously.

"So," I started, "let's get to work. What song do you want to use?"

We talked it over with each other and decided on "Can't help Falling in Love with You" by Elvis Presley. I was very hesitant to choose this song because it means so much to me. My father used to sing this to my mother all the time.

Peeta, of course, understood this, but eventually I said yes.

"So, how about the music?" I asked him.

"Well, I can play it on the piano if you want." He offered.

"You can play?"

"Yeah, I used to take lessons." We talked it over a bit more until the bell rang.

"Hey, Katniss, do you wanna come over later so we can figure this out?" He asked me.

"Um…" I was hesitant, but of course Peeta knew why.

"I can drive Prim back home first and then take you to mine." I thought it over. Prim was old enough, and I did need to trust her more…

"Okay, why not." I said, smiling at the prospect of an evening alone with Peeta.

This would be an interesting day.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hey y'all! I'm back with another chapter for all my lovely readers! I'm so glad that those of you who reviewed like my story. Remember, feel free to give constructive criticism or suggestions.**

 **Disclaimer: Own nothing but the storyline.**

The final bell rang for the day and I exited the classroom, informing Annie that I needed to talk to Prim and would meet her at the soccer fields.

I had completely forgotten earlier that when Peeta had said after school, he'd also meant after soccer tryouts-which I'd promised to go to. So, I had to arrange for Prim to go hang out with her friends until I was done at Peeta's house.

I walked out to the courtyard and approached Prim who sat on a bench, her back to me.

"Hey, Prim," She looked up, "I have to do something after school today, so you're gonna go hang out at Kiara's house until I come get you, okay?"

"Yeah, sure. What are you doing, though?" She asked me.

"Um…" Prim was so gonna make fun of me for this, "I'm gonna watch soccer tryouts, then I'm going over to…" She looked at me expectantly, "Peeta's house to work on a music project."

Prim's face broke into a huge smile. "Ooh, Katniss and Peeta sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-"

I cut her off, slapping my hand over her mouth. "No." I stated simply. She just nodded her head.

I let Prim run off to find Kiara, before heading off to the soccer fields. When I got there, I scanned the crowd, looking for the girls. I spotted Annie, Rue, and Johanna seated on the bleachers near the front.

"Hey, guys, has it started yet?" I asked as I sat down.

"No," Rue responded, "it should be starting soon, though."

We sat down and waited for the tryouts to start. Soon enough the boys flooded from the locker room. There were about forty guys trying out for the team, specifically the varsity team since JV tryouts had already occurred yesterday.

There was only space for about 18 guys on the team, so 22 would get cut. I wasn't worried for the boys, from what I was told, they were the best on the team. Actually, Peeta and Finnick were already guaranteed spots on the team as last year's team captains. They had to try out again this year to see if they will win the position once again.

The tryouts happened in the form of scrimmages, one half of the boys would play now, the others would play in an hour.

The four boys were on one team and on the other were the four Career boys- Cato, Gloss, Marvel, and Gale. When the game started, it was already clear who was at the advantage. Our friends had amazing chemistry with each other, being able to predict each other's moves and always be in the right position to receive and pass the ball up and down the field.

Soon enough, they had scored and the other team was not happy. You could easily see Gale's face turning red with anger and frustration. Their dribbling and passing began to get messy. The Career boys began getting more and more frustrated, and with that their playing got worse.

As the game drew to a close, our boys stayed in the lead. When the final whistle blew, our boys had won three to zero and showed up the Careers completely. Gale was angry, as was Cato, but he knew that he had to tread carefully because of what had happened earlier. We saw Gale making his way over to the boys, and I was alarmed as he came up behind a distracted Finnick.

"Finn!" Annie yelled, distressed. But she was too late. Gale raised up a fist, and Finnick had time only to move just enough to avoid a headshot. His fist came crashing down on Finnick's shoulder, sending finn staggering backwards into Blight. Thresh pulls him up and pushes away Gale, who was closing in once again.

I looked over and saw the other Careers jogging over to the sight of the tussle, Cato apparently having forgotten he was in hot water. The boys were soon brawling with ours, but our friends seemed reluctant to hit them, more defending themselves than anything.

The referees and some of the bigger boys managed to pull them away from each other, taking some to the nurse's office and separating the others onto opposite sides of the field.

Ugh, boys.

"Are you sure you're alright, Peeta?" I asked him as we exited his car. We had just pulled up into the driveway of his home and were heading inside.

"Yeah, I'm fine, really, Katniss." He smiled at me reassuringly. My mind wandered to the two fights today. In both of them, Peeta refused to hit the person attacking him unless absolutely necessary. Why?

"...Katniss?" I started at the sound of my name. I looked up to see Peeta eyeing me with concern etched into his features.

I looked down, wondering if I should ask him or not. I didn't want to pry, but it was so strange.

"Peeta…" He looked at me, "during the fights, why didn't you fight back? I know you can. I saw it before the first fight in P.E."

Peeta shifted his gaze to the ground and I regretted asking, I had no right to.

"Peeta, I'm sorry for asking." I said regretfully. "You don't have t-"

"My mom." He cut me off. "Or rather, my step-mom was the one I told you about when I first met you. I didn't tell you about my real mom because...well I didn't want to scare you off just yet."

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. What does that mean?

He smiled ruefully at my expression. "My real mom is in prison." My eyes widened in surprise. "Child abuse." Oh, what had happened to this sweet boy.

"My father walked into the house one day with me on the floor and her standing over me with a rolling pin." I gasped. "I was fourteen at the time. He called the police and divorced her immediately. She'll be in prison for at least one more year."

Peeta spoke quietly. I listened intently.

"I took up wrestling when I was twelve and never stopped. But when I fought, I always made sure I never hurt my opponent. Even Cato or Marvel...I've been through so much, and I never want anyone else to ever have to experience even a quarter of what I did."

This boy had been abused by the woman who was supposed to love him the most, yet he still had come out the other side, the best person I had ever met. How that had happened was an enigma.

But it's that, that good in him that made it so easy to fall for him.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hey guys, so I'm baaaaackkkkk! Y'all ready for a** _ **very**_ **important chapter?**

 **Thanks to all the viewers who gave comments. I'm glad all of you like it and I will try to update as often as I can.**

 **Disclaimer: I own none of this, all of it, but the storyline, belongs to Suzanne Collins.**

Peeta and I worked hard for the next two hours, trying to figure out the arrangement and harmonies of the song. We learned that our voices mixed exceptionally well, the smooth tones of my voice and the strength and power in Peeta's sounded amazing.

Peeta was amazing on the piano. He told me that he took lessons when he was younger, but I never expected he would be so good. His fingers moves seamlessly and so fluidly across the keys, so very quickly, the music aspect of our project was flawless.

It was just a matter of finding where and how to harmonize, what to change up, how to make the music our own.

"Okay, what if here," he points to a spot on the music sheet, "we switch and you hit the high harmony, while I go on melody." I look at the music sheet and think it over in my head.

Then, I smile, "I love it, the change in dynamic will give the piece more depth, it'll sound so good." Peeta smiles back at me.

"Great, well, I think the harmony is like…" Peeta continues speaking, I pay attention and marvel at how much he knows, how amazing he is and how good his ideas are. Peeta is quick to figure out the harmony, demonstrating it to me in a lower key than I would sing it.

 _Shall I say_

 _Would it be a sin_

 _If I can't help falling in love with you…_

He looks up at me and I smile at him, nodding my head vigorously.

"That's perfect, it's amazing." Peeta grins sheepishly a blushes at my compliments. "Let's try it." Peeta agrees and begins to play the music. I take a deep breath and close my eyes. Peeta begins playing the music of the verse before the one we arranged:

 _Wise men say_

 _Only fools rush in_

 _But I can't help falling in love with you_

I take a deep breath and recall the harmony Peeta taught me.

 _Shall I say_

 _Would it be a sin_

 _If I can't help falling in love with you…_

At some point during the verse, my eyes had shot open, meeting Peeta's as we listened to how shockingly well the harmony fit, how beautifully it flowed, and how easily we transitioned from harmony to melody or vice versa.

"Wow," Peeta breathed, "that was amazing."

"I know," I agree with him, "if we perform like that, and have something similar happen for the rest of the verses, there's no way we won't get an A on the project."

Around five p.m., we took a break from the project and went downstairs to relax and hang out. We sat down in the living room and just talked, we messed around a bit and just chilled out and enjoyed being in each other's presence.

"...and then, Annie grabbed him by the ear and dragged Finnick out. And he was pouting like a puppy the whole time, but she just wouldn't give!" I started cracking up, we laughed so hard we didn't hear the front door open.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't know anyone was home." We both jumped up and turned around. Standing in the doorway was a blonde woman in her early forties. She was very pretty and obviously lived here. This must be Peeta's step mother.

"Oh, no it's fine, Lisa, we were just hanging out." He smiled at her. Then he looked between the two of us and remembered we didn't know each other. "Oh, I forgot. Katniss, this is my stepmother, Lisa. Lisa, this is Katniss, a friend from school."

"Nice to meet you, Lisa." Katniss smiled.

"You too, Katniss." Lisa replied. Then she looked at Peeta. "So, what are you too up to?" She raised her eyebrows.

"We were just working on a music project." Peeta replied.

"Ah, and how's it going?" She asked.

"Good, we're moving along really nicely and just stringing together the pieces." Peeta said.

"That's good, listen, I'm about to start dinner, Katniss, will you be joining us? We'd love to have you." She said warmly.

Peeta looked at me, his eyebrows raised."Oh...I don't know, Prim is at her friend's house and I don't want to leave her-" Just then, my phone began to ring. Prim. "Um...I'll be right back, sorry." I walked out of the room. "Hey, Prim, everything okay?"

" _Yeah, everything's fine. I just wanted to ask you if I can stay a bit longer, Kiara and her family invited me to dinner, is that okay?"_

"Yeah, that's fine. I'm good with it." I replied.

" _Okay, thanks, Kat!"_

"Alright, just call me when you're done. Love you, bye." I said.

" _Bye, Kat, love you, too."_

I walk back into the living room, Lisa was no longer there, but Peeta sat on the couch, watching some TV show. I walked over and sat down on the couch next to him. He turned to look at me.

"So, Prim is going to eat dinner at her friend's house, meaning that I'm free for the evening. If you guys are still willing to have me, I'd love to join you for dinner." I said.

"Great, I'll tell Lisa to make an extra plate." Peeta smiled at me. "We should probably finish up the project, though, huh?"

"Yeah, that'd be smart." I giggled. Wait...giggled? I internally groaned, I never giggle. I need to get a hold of myself. "Um, yeah, let's get to work."

We walked back upstairs to the music room. We sat at the piano for at least another hour, tweaking and adjusting part of the music to get the most dynamic and the smoothest transitions.

After that hour was up, we sat back and took a breath, looking at the music sheets.

"I think...we're done." Peeta said.

"What do you say we try it?" I asked. Peeta nodded. He sat up at the piano and began playing the intro. I breathed in deeply and closed my eyes, letting myself feel the music. Then we began to sing:

 _Wise men say only fools rush in_

 _But I can't help falling in love with you_

 _Shall I stay_

 _Would it be a sin_

 _If I can't help falling in love with you_

 _Like a river flows surely to the sea_

 _Darling so it goes_

 _Some things are meant to be_

 _Take my hand, take my whole life too_

 _For I can't help falling in love with you_

 _Like a river flows surely to the sea_

 _Darling so it goes_

 _Some things are meant to be_

 _Take my hand, take my whole life too_

 _For I can't help falling in love with you_

 _For I can't help falling in love with you_

I look up at Peeta and think that, well, truer words have never been spoken.

 **A/N: Song creds- Can't Help Falling in Love With You by Elvis Presley**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hey readers! I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update, I've just been really busy with writing a script for my drama project! It's so nuts.**

 **This is my longest chapter yet!**

 **Song creds for last chapter: Can't help falling in love with you-Elvis Presley**

 **Disclaimer: I own none of these characters or the storyline, all of it belongs to Suzanne Collins(the storyline is mine, though).**

Peeta and I spent around another twenty minutes tweaking the music. At about seven, Lisa called us downstairs for dinner. We cleaned up our music sheets and the rest of the papers that littered the area.

We walked downstairs quietly, listening to the voices of Peeta's family. I was a bit nervous to meet Peeta's family. Lisa was really nice, but I didn't want to embarrass myself infront of them, they didn't even know who I was.

As we entered the dining room, the voices quieted and all eyes turned to us. I saw Lisa setting the table, but didn't recognize the two boys who were present. I figured them to be Peeta's older brothers, whom he had told me about. One boy had curly blonde hair, just like Peeta, but had a set of brown eyes. He looked about two years older than us and his features were much sharper than Peeta's, his face thinner. He came off as a kind person, but something about the way he leaned against the table and the small grin that played on his lips tells me he likes to play a couple of tricks once in awhile.

The other boy was older than the other, out of college. While he shared Peeta's blue eyes, they weren't nearly as striking as the bright cerulean of Peeta's. He had straight, dirty blonde hair, and shared some of Peeta's handsome features, but had a more rugged sense about him. All three of the boys were tall and broad, they were well-built and looked to be incredibly athletic. All of the boys were extremely handsome in their own respect.

Suddenly, the middle brother smirked. "So, Peeta, who's your girlfriend?" I blushed.

"Not my girlfriend, Rye." Peeta retorted. Is it stupid that the fact that he said I wasn't his girlfriend kind of hurt? "But anyway, guys, this is my friend Katniss. Katniss, this idiot," he said motioning to the brother who had spoken, "is my brother Rye. Don't worry, he's not that bad once we feed him. That's my other brother Joseph." He gestured to his older brother.

"Uh, hi guys." I laughed nervously.

"Hello, Katniss." Rye smiled. "Now tell us, what's a pretty thing like you doing hanging around with this moron?" He gestured to Peeta who rolled his eyes.

"Oh, we were just working on a project for music class." I replied.

He raised an eyebrow at me, looked at Peeta, then back at me. "Yeah...I'm _sure_ that's what you were doing."

Suddenly, a hand appeared behind Rye's head and swatted him, Rye winced as Joseph admonished him. "Be nice." I breathed a sigh of relief that that awkward moment was over until Joseph grinned and said, "I'm sure when Peeta is ready, he'll come to us for the...proper supplies."

My face heated up and Peeta groaned in embarrassment from his spot next to me. He glanced over with an apologetic look and shrugged. I smiled and shook my head, this was going to be an interesting night.

We all seated ourselves, Peeta and I on one side, Joseph and Rye on the other. Lisa sat at the head of the table, and a seat remained empty at the other end of the table. The boys poked and teased at each other, trying to embarrass one another. I looked around and smiled, although, there was a tugging in my chest. This was what a real family was like, not that I didn't have one, I just….was never able to be this carefree, this young. I had to grow up fast after my father died.

Peeta noticed my expression and touched my arm, raising his eyebrows in question. 'You okay?' it asked. I nodded. 'Yeah'.

The sound of the front door opening caught all our attentions and I watched a man with uncanny resemblance to Peeta walk in. He was taller than all of the boys and had a muscular build like them. He had the same striking blue eyes as Peeta and curly blonde hair. This was their father.

He kissed his wife on the cheek and clapped Rye's shoulder. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Hello." He said.

"Hi." I gave a little wave, not sure what to do.

Peeta, sensing my discomfort, jumped in. "Dad, this is my friend, Katniss. Kat, this is my dad."

He stuck out a hand, which I shook. "Nice to meet you, Katniss."

"You too, Mr. Mellark." I replied.

"Oh, no need for that, my dear, just call me Anthony. Mr. Mellark makes me sound like an old man." He chuckled.

"But you are an old man." Quipped Rye, who ducked as Mr. Mellark's hand came to the back of his head for a playful shove. I marveled at the father child relationship I badly remembered. Their family was so close. Heck, even Lisa was closer to the boys that weren't even her sons, than my mother is with Prim and I.

We all day down as Lisa came out of the kitchen with a dish of spaghetti and a bowl of salad. Each of us took turns spinning out the food onto our plates, before digging in to one of the best meals I'd ever tasted.

I swallowed and said. "Wow, Mrs. Mellark, this is amazing."

"Oh, thank you, you're so sweet. And please, it's Lisa." She grinned at me. Dinner went off without a hitch, everybody talking and even including me in the conversations. They made me feel truly welcome which was a foreign feeling to me, except from Prim and my new friends. It was amazing.

Soon, all the food had been finished and we had to clean up. Prim still hadn't called so I offered to help Lisa clean up the table.

We carried the dishes back to the kitchen where we started washing them off. I washed them, and then she would dry and put them away. The sound of the boys playing video games in the other room could be heard.

"You cheated! That doesn't count." Rye exclaimed.

"Don't be a sore loser, Rye, I won that, it was completely fair." Peeta replied calmly.

"No! You distracted me!" Rye tried.

"Well, I'm sorry my handsome looks were too much for you to bear." Peeta feigned apology. I giggled at the conversation.

"No, that's not what I meant, you-" Rye started.

"Will you two shut up! I'm trying to poop, but your little fight is making me constipated! Have some courtesy, God!" Joseph shouted from the bathroom.

Lisa and I took one look at each other and cracked up. Holding our stomachs as we laughed until tears began coming out of my eyes.

Lisa and I finished up the dishes and went to join the boys in the living room, only to stop when we saw them in the middle of a hilarious Just Dance competition.

I pulled out my phone and pressed record as Rye and Peeta moved their hips and hands in coordination to the song "Call me maybe".

As the song ended and Peeta won, he turned to float in his face, but saw me out of the corner of his eye. He took one glance at the phone and my smile and figured out what has happened.

I screamed as Peeta ran after me, both of us laughing as he caught me by the waist and pulled me to him. I was facing the opposite direction, kicking to no avail as he tickled my sides.

"Aaaaah, Peeta stop!" I laughed. "Sto..p...I…can't...breath." I got out between laughs. I push against his chest until he stops. As I'm catching my breath, I realize he's still holding me, I turn my head and he looks down at me, so that we're face to face. I don't notice the camera shutter go off add we stare at each other.

Eventually he lets go. Lisa and I went back to the kitchen to get something to drink while the boys turned on the TV. I leaned against the counter as Lisa opened to cabinet to grab to cups. I was lost in thought when I heard Lisa say:

"How much do you like him?"

"Huh?" I asked.

"Peeta," she reiterated, "how much do you like him?"

"I don't…" Lisa raised an eyebrow before going to pull out her phone. She scrolled down until she found what she was looking for, turning the screen towards me. It sa picture of Peeta and I just five minutes ago. His arms were around my waist and our heads were turned towards each other, staring into each other's eyes. Both of us wore matching grins. It was in that moment that I realized I don't like Peeta.

"I don't like Peeta."

"No, you love him." Lisa said.

"...I know."


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Hey readers! I'm sorry it's been so long since I've updated, but I'm lacking inspiration. Review and give me some ideas!**

 **Disclaimer: Characters=not mine, The Hunger Games=not mine, storyline=mine(YAS). The Hunger Games is Suzanne Collins's.**

"Bye, it was so nice meeting all of you." I waved to the Mellark family as I stepped out onto the porch.

"It was nice to meet you too, Katniss." Said Anthony. "You're welcome back here any time."

I smiled at the man. "Thank you."

I left to the sound of a chorused goodbye. I had stayed at the Mellark household far longer than I had expected, as Prim has only called a little while ago.

"Thanks for driving me, Peeta." I said.

"No prob. Now, which way is Prim's friend's house?" He asked me. I pulled out my phone and pulled up the address Prim has sent me and showed it to him. Soon, we were pulling up to the front of a small house of which Prim came running out of.

She stopped when she saw the car, but then smiled and ran up to it. Peeta waved here in and she climbed into the backseat of the car.

I turned my head to look at her. "Hey, Little Duck, how was Kiara's?"

Her eyes widened and her whole face flushed a violent red. "Katniss! You can't call me that! It's embarrassing." Her eyes flitted to Peeta and he laughed.

"It's okay, Prim, my older brothers used to call Peety-Tweety in front of my friends all the time. Trust me, I have no room to judge your nickname." He chuckled. Prim and I laughed. Prim told me that she and Kiara had watched the Book of Life- a movie.

"It was _so_ good, Katniss, you have to watch it." Prim insisted.

"Maybe." I replied. Soon, Peeta pulled up to the front of my house. Prim got out and ran inside quickly to go to the bathroom, while I lingered a little while longer to talk to Peeta.

"Thank you, for having me for dinner tonight." I said to him.

He smiled. "No problem. It was fun. My family loved you, you fit in so well with them." He told me.

"Well, they didn't make it very hard. They're some of the most welcoming people I've ever met." I informed him. We talked a little bit more before saying goodnight. When the time came for him to leave, I was unsure of what to do, but he did it for me by pulling me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around his neck and clung to him.

It was such a warm embrace that I felt myself melt into it, burying my face into his chest and sighing contentedly. Slowly I lifted my head up to look at Peeta and was met by those beautiful cerulean eyes that I loved. I watched is eyes dart down to my lips and I did the same to him.

We both leaned in slowly and I closed my eyes. The next thing I felt was his lips meet mine in a kiss so sweet I lost myself in it. My mouth moved against his and it felt so amazing...but then I realized. I realized that he was just caught up in the moment. He didn't really like me.

After this he would realize what a mistake he made and he wouldn't want to be friends with me anymore. I can't lose him. This shouldn't have happened. I detach myself from him, eyes wide.

"I-I'm sorry." I stammer. I turn and run back to my house.

"Wait, Katn-" I cut him off with the slam of my door. I turned around and leaned my back against the door, sliding down with my hand over my mouth. I couldn't believe what had just happened. I probably just ruined the best friendship I've ever had. Why? Why did I have to be so stupid?

Prim began walking down the stairs, but stopped suddenly when she saw me. She broke into a run and stopped in front of me. She kneeled down to my level and pulled me into a fierce embrace. I hugged her back, clung to her like my lifeline. I watched as my tears dripped down onto her pale blonde hair. I hadn't even realized I was crying.

"Prim, I think I just ruined my friendship with Peeta." I whispered.

"Oh, Kat, I doubt he'd ever end his friendship with you. He seems-"

"I kissed him." I blurted out.

"What?" She asked in disbelief.

"I know, I know, it was so stupid, he's never gonna want to talk to me again and-"

"Katniss," she cut me off, "why do you think this will ruin your friendship with him?"

"Prim, he doesn't look at me that way. He doesn't like me." I tell her.

"What are you talking about?" I look at her in question. "Of course he likes you, Katniss! I can see it in his eyes."

"Prim, no. He doesn't like me, he's just friendly with everyone." He didn't like me. He couldn't. Why would someone like him ever even look at someone like me. Prim was seeing things.

"I don't understand why you refuse to acknowledge that guys like you, Katniss. You're beautiful, smart, kind, and so many other things, but you've never let yourself believe it." She told me.

"You see the best in everyone, Little Duck. You're the only one who's capable of seeing me like that. No one else does." I said.

"I'm not! So many other people do, but you never let them get close enough to tell you." She insists. "Peeta sees it, I can tell. He likes you, Katniss. And you like him."

"No, I don't." I said quietly.

"Katn-"

"I love him." I told her. "I love him, but he'll never look at me that way, Prim. And now...he probably won't even look at me as a friend."

WIth that, I rose from my spot on the floor and quickly moved up the stairs and locked the door to my room.

Oh god, oh god, oh god. What have I done?


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm back with another update! Thank you so much to the guest reader who helped me come up with ideas for this chapter! :)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games or its characters, it all belongs to Suzanne Collins.**

I tossed and turned all night. I couldn't stop thinking about Peeta. What was going to happen tomorrow at school? He'd probably tell me we couldn't be friends anymore. That I was too weird and he'd never like someone as awkward as me back.

The very thought of it crushed me. I looked over at my clock. 1 AM. I groaned internally. I was going to be so dead tomorrow at school. I had to get to sleep or else I would fall asleep in my classes. I couldn't afford to miss any of the lesson so I forced my eyes closed and took deep breaths until, miraculously, I managed to fall asleep.

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of my alarm. I was so tired, but knew that if I didn't get my butt out of bed I'd be late for school. I forced myself out of bed and into the bathroom where I quickly washed up and re-braided my hair. I got dressed in my black jeans, green tank top, and black leather jacket.

As Prim and I left the house I went over my plan for today: avoid Peeta. I knew that he probably wouldn't want to see me, and I didn't want to have an awkward encounter with him. It would be difficult though. We had five out of six classes together.

I dropped Prim off at the Junior High building before quickly walking to English. I didn't want to meet the group at the usual spot we did in the morning, it'd be too awkward.

Luckily, Mrs. Wiress didn't assign seats so that I didn't have to sit next to Peeta. I walked into the classroom and spotted a seat in the back corner, surrounded by other seats that were already occupied.

I quickly sat down and took out my stuff. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Peeta walk into the room and see me sitting in the corner. He quickly turned away to find another seat. He was probably relieved that he wouldn't have me sitting next to him.

English passed by quickly. I listened to the lesson and took notes where appropriate. Soon, the bell rang and I quickly packed up my stuff and headed out the door.

"Wait, Katniss! Wait!" Called a voice behind me. Peeta. He probably wanted to tell me to leave me alone. I couldn't face that yet, so I sped up my footsteps, desperate to get to government.

When I got there, I did the same thing to Finnick and Annie that I did to Peeta. I sat in a swarm of other kids and focused completely on the lesson, although I could feel Annie's concerned stare.

That wouldn't last long. After Peeta told them about what I did, they'd probably be begging to get away from me. They'd think I was weird and I'd lose the only friends that I have here.

When the bell rang, I hurried to my locker to put my stuff away. I was so distracted by toggling my books that I didn't notice the presence of someone behind me until it was too late.

I turned around, only to be met by Gale's tal frame caging me in with his arms. Oh great.

"Hey, sexy." He said while staring at my chest. I made a noise of disgust and tried to push him away, but he was stronger than me. Uh oh. "You know, you're really difficult. I've been trying to show you all that you could've had. How great we could've been. But you're being difficult. Why won't you just admit you want to be with me too?"

"Because I don't. I'm sorry Gale, but I actually have standards." I snarked at him.

His face grew hard. "Well, sometimes when you want something, you gotta take it for yourself." Suddenly he grabbed me by the waist and pulled me to him. I yelped in alarm, but was quickly cut off by Gale's lips pressing to mine. I squeaked and pushed, trying to get him off me. To get away, but he wasn't giving up. He was too strong.

He wouldn't let me go. I pushed against him. I began to panick. I was being forced into this and I had no way out. I felt the tears drip out of my eyes as I started crying, becoming hysterical as I tried to get away from my assailant.

I was sobbing, trying to scream, but I couldn't. I was just beginning to give up hope when I felt the weight pressed against the front side of my body be pulled off. I slid to the floor and curled up into a ball and began to sob into my knees.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and I looked up to see Annie there. She put an arm around my shoulders and sat with me. Then, my focus was pulled away from her and to the scuffle happening a few feet away.

Peeta was the one who had pulled Gale off of me and had him pinned against the lockers. Gale was trying futilely to get out of Peeta's grip, but he was far too strong. Far too angry.

"If you ever touch her again, I will kill you." His voice was low, almost a whisper, but the most menacing and threatening that I had ever heard. "Don't touch her,don't look at her, don't even think about her. You will never touch the girl I love again."

I froze. The girl...the girl he loves? He loves me? I looked at Annie, sure I was imagining things, but she nodded at me. It was real, he had said it.

Over by the lockers, Peeta had let Gale go, who had scurried away to hide in whatever hole he'd crawled out of. Peeta walked over to me and held out a hand. I took it and he pulled me up and straight into his arms for a hug.

I buried my face in his cest for a moment before I raised my head up and asked:

"You love me?"

He looked down at my face for a second. "For so long. Katniss, I've liked you since the day you came here. I fell in love with you easily. I thought you...I thought you didn't like me back, that you never would. And yesterday when you ran off I _knew_ you didn't like me back. Katniss, I care about you so much and if you just want to be friends I'll understand, but I just couldn't go another day without you knowing how much-"

I cut him off with a kiss.

I pulled away and smiled. "I love you too."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Hi! I'm so sorry, you guys! I know I haven't been updating recently but I was in a show and it took up so much of my time. My updates after this will still probably be few and far between because finals and the musical auditions will be coming up soon. Sorry :(**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of the hunger games, just the plotline of this story.**

I was floating. It was amazing. Ever since Peeta and I admitted our love to each other, I just can't stop smiling. Every time I see him everything around us just disappears. Now, whenever we are around each other...we're always touching each other.

Peeta and I were not officially a couple yet. We were at some sort of weird in between state, not moving forward, nor backward. He would put his arm around me or we would hold hands in the hall, but nothing more than that. No kissing. Which in honesty kinda sucked.

I was hoping that would change, though. Homecoming was in two weeks and I really wanted Peeta to ask me. I wasn't sure, though, what if he realized that I wasn't good enough for him? I mean, it was true. I don't deserve him at all.

Peeta was so perfect and friendly and I was everything but. I wasn't pretty enough for him or kind enough, my personality was dry as toast and...I just wasn't good enough. But...Peeta and the rest of my friends for a matter of fact, hadn't realized that yet, and I was going to keep it that way for as long as possible.

I was on my way to lunch from calculus. Peeta had to go get something from his locker and would meet me and everyone else by the tree. I made my way over to where I saw the rest of the group sitting in the shade of the tree on the grass.

"Guys, this will be so much fun! Now we just have to get Katniss to agree." Said Annie.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Get me to agree to what?" I asked. They jumped.

"Katniss!" Annie exclaimed. They all looked around nervously to each other.

I raised my eyebrow and crossed my arms. "Get me to agree to what?" I tapped my foot impatiently. Everyone went silent. "Guys?"

Finally, Johanna sighed. "To get you...to agree to try out for the cheerleading team with us."

…

I blinked a couple times, trying to figure out what kinda drug someone must have given me to make me hear this conversation. Nope. I got nothing, it must be real.

"What?"

"We want you to-"

"I know what you said! But why? Why would you ever want to do that? The cheerleading team is the Career girls' domain." I argued. Those girls would tear us apart and humiliate us.

"Katniss, if we let them keep us from doing things, we're just letting them control us. Cheerleading could be so fun to do together." Annie said. I paused. They were controlling me. I couldn't let them do that. After all...I did used to be a gymnast. From the time I was six to when my father died I would go to the gym every Monday and Wednesday to practice hurdles and flips of all kind.

"Well…" they look at me hopefully. "Okay, I'll do it."

"Yes!" They scream. Everyone begins excitedly chattering to each other. The girls about times we could practice together and the boys talked about how hot their girlfriends would look wearing those uniforms.

"Okay, girls," Annie stood up and clapped her hands, "everyone meet at my house later to learn the routine that we'll need to audition with."

We all agreed. "Can we come, too?" Finnick asked for the boys. All of the girls looked at each other and sighed. We all already knew why the boys wanted to come and watch us.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever, you can come." They all fist-bumped each other and I chuckled at their utterly "boy-ness".

Three hours later, we all walked into Annie's house. It was huge. As soon as you walked into the foyer, a huge staircase led upstairs to where I presume all of the bedrooms were.

We walked through her giant living room towards a glass sliding door that stepped out onto a raised deck. Down on the grass, Annie had huge speakers set out along with the four sets of pom-poms the school lent to us for practice.

Twenty minutes later, the girls were a mess. No one could understand how to do the choreography and they were all tripping over themselves.

"I give," Johanna cries from the floor, "we're never going to get this. Let's just give up, we're gonna humiliate ourselves."

"No, we can do this." I tell them. "You guys are too stiff. You're not watching the footwork carefully enough and…" I begin to ramble off techniques to them, until I realize they are all staring at me. "What?"

"How do you know all of this?" Rue asks. Oh, I forgot they didn't know.

"I used to take gymnastics as a kid. It's not exactly the same, but it helps me understand how to do this better." I explain to them. For the next three hours, I continue teaching them the audition piece until we all have it down to the "T".

Then we have to practice lifts, luckily we are all pretty athletic and we can figure these out easily how to support and lift each other.

The next day after school, we head to the gym for try outs. Glimmer and Cashmere sit at the check-in table.

"Well, well, what're you four doing here? Do you really want all that badly to be as amazing as us?" Glimmer snickered. "Well, unfortunately you guys being losers kinda prevents you from doing that."

We ignore it and move into our positions for the piece. The music begins playing and we are of the only few to get it perfect. Glimmer, Cashmere, Clove, and Delly are all seething, but suddenly Delly got a mischievous smirk on her face.

She whispered something to the rest of the girls and soon, they wore the same expression. They moved over to the group of girls trying out and told us our next directions.

"Okay, girls, some of you did amazing, and some of you sucked." Glimmer said, looking directly at us. "Next activity: lifts. We will divide you into teams of three and assign bases. When the time comes to showcase your ability, one of us will stand in as a base to make sure you're doing it right. Then we will switch."

I got put in a group with Annie and another girl named Bristol. Being the smallest, I was the flier. Luckily, Bristol was good with the holds and we practiced the three designated ones easily.

Finally came the time to show them what we could do. Unfortunately our base sub was Delly. Ugh.

As we got into position for the first hold, I got a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach. Something bad. Delly and Bristol lifted me in the air and I got into my pose. But right when I felt myself get to my tallest height, I felt something shift under my foot. I looked down and met Delly's eyes, glinting evilly. I knew what she was going to do.

My eyes widened. "Wait, no-" But I was cut off by Delly's hands dropping out from under my foot. I screamed, and as I fell, I met Peeta's terrified eyes as he watched on from the back of the gym.

I felt my body hit first, scorching pain running throughout my body. My legs, my butt, my back, and finally...my head whipped back and slammed onto the floor, blanketing my world in blackness as I lost consciousness.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Hey, y'all, I'm back! Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I just had to, I really did. But anyway, here's another chapter to keep you from dying.**

 **This chapter will be from Peeta's POV, you'll see why.**

 **Disclaimer: THG belongs to Suzanne Collins, I only own the storyline of this fanfiction.**

Peeta POV

The world stopped as I watched her fall. It was like slow motion. The fall wasn't very high, but still...Katniss being put in danger made me think. Think of what a world without her would be like.

The world would be about twenty times darker than now. She was such a shining light in so many people's lives. SHe just didn't know it.

My heart stopped beating as I watched her hit the floor. The crack of her head against the floor caused my breath to catch in my throat.

"Oh, god." I whispered. I began to run over to where she was. "Katniss!" Her body laid motionless on the floor. She looked almost dead as I knelt by her side. Gently, I pulled her upper body into my lap and cradled her to my chest. Her head was rolled to the side, limp.

The rest of the group ran over, but I didn't acknowledge anyone. I just kept staring at the girl who I was holding. She was so vulnerable looking. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Delly smirk and walk away to go stand with the rest of the careers.

"Katniss," I started, "Katniss, wake up, baby, please." No response. I looked at Annie, who stood closest to me. "Call 9-1-1-."

Annie nodded grimly and pulled out her phone. I needed to call Mrs. Everdeen. I pulled Katniss's phone out of her pocket and opened it up. Her background was a picture of us, one that I had never seen. It was taken at my house, the night she first had dinner with my family.

In the picture, my arms were wrapped around her waist and I looked over her shoulder staring into her eyes. She, in turn, was looking up at me and had her hands placed atop my own. I swallowed thickly, holding back my tears. We looked so in love. We still are.

I unlocked her phone with my thumbprint that I had put in when her background was still a picture of Prim, and quickly scrolled through her contacts. I found the one that said 'Mom'. I pressed the call button.

It rang three times before she answered. " _Hello? Katniss, is everything alright, dear?"_

"Mrs. Everdeen? This is Peeta Mellark."

" _Peeta? What is going on? Has something happened?"_

"Uh, yeah, Mrs. Everdeen. Um, Katniss was at cheerleading tryouts and she fell from a lift." I looked down at her face. "She hit her head pretty hard on the ground and she won't wake up."

" _Oh my god!"_

"We've called 9-1-1 and the ambulance is coming now. Can you meet us at the hospital?"

" _Yes, of course. Primrose and I will be there soon."_

"Alright." I told her, ready to hang up, when suddenly she spoke again.

" _Peeta…"_

"Yes?"

" _When the ambulance gets there, tell the paramedics that Katniss's mother gave her expressed permission to let you ride the ambulance with her. I don't want her to be alone."_

I swallowed, touched that Mrs. Everdeen trusted me with Katniss. "Okay." I said quietly and hung up without another word.

I tucked Katniss's phone into my pocket and started down at her beautiful face. Our friend stood by, everyone in shock of what happened. Finnick held Annie closely, her eyes were terrified at the prospect of something horrible becoming her new friend.

Soon, the ambulance arrived, two young men came into the gym when someone flagged them over from outside. One came over to ask some questions.

"What part of her head did she hit?" He asked me. I was distracted by the sight of Katniss being wheeled away on a stretcher, so it took me some time respond.

"The...back, I think." I said slowly.

"How quickly did she lose consciousness? Did she stay awake for a couple of seconds and then pass out? Or was it immediate?" The paramedic inquired.

"It was instantaneous. The moment she hit her head, she was completely out."

"And has she woken up or stirred at all since then?"

"No, nothing." With every question I got more and more nervous for Katniss.

"Alright, thanks, son." He began to walk away, but I stopped him.

"Wait!" He turned back. " I know that it's usually family only, but when i called her mother, she said to tell the paramedics that she gave her expressed permission for me to be in the ambulance with Katniss."

"Listen young man, I don't-"

"Her mother is Lillian Everdeen." I knew that Katniss's mother was a respected nurse and her name must hold some power.

He stopped. "All right, but if I get in trouble for this, it's all going on her head." I nodded.

We made our way over to the ambulance. When I stepped into the vehicle, I was momentarily taken aback by the sight of Katniss laying there, helplessly.

I took her hand and held it against my lips as we drove. When we got there, Katniss was wheeled in and I was told to go in the waiting room.

The rest of our friends were on their way, as were Mrs. Everdeen and Prim.

After waiting for ten minutes, Mrs. Everdeen and Prim came rushing through the doors and not too long after, so did the rest of our friends.

"Any news?" Asked Mrs. Everdeen, worriedly. I shook my head and sighed, until I knew, I was just going to keep imagining the worst scenarios until I knew something for sure.

It turns out I wouldn't have to wait. The doctor came in through the doors holding a clipboard. "Katniss Everdeen?" We all stood and looked. "Are any of you family?"

"I'm her mother." Mrs. Everdeen answered. "They can all hear, too."

He nodded. "Well, Ms. Everdeen is suffering from a major concussion. At this point we don't believe there will be any long lasting effects, but there is a chance of temporary amnesia. She has minor whiplash and a sprained ankle, but nothing too bad."

We nodded. "When can we see her?" I asked.

"You can go now, three at a time, but she probably will not wake. If she does, though, let me know."

We decided that Mrs. Everdeen, Prim, and I would go first and people would rotate in and out, but one of us would always be there.

When we entered the room, Katniss was connected to about for machines with wires going in and out of her arms. I sat down in a chair next to her and held her hand.

Everyone else rotated in and out of the room, but they left me to sit there the whole time.

A couple hours later, Mrs. Everdeen had to leave to drop Prim off at a friend's house for the night. Everyone else had already left to go home, since we had school the next day.

I sat alone in the room with Katniss. Just staring at her beautiful face. I suddenly began to speak:

"Katniss...I don't really know if you can hear me or not, but I really need you to wake up. It has been less than a day and I already miss talking to you, your smile, your gorgeous eyes. Katniss, I need you to wake up and be okay. Please." After I spoke, I thought I felt her finger twitch, but I ignored it, thinking I must be imagining it. But then, her whole arm moved.

I looked down surprised, and heard a groan come from the bed. Her silvery eyes flutter open.

"Katniss," I said, "you're awake."

Her eyes flitted over to me and widened as if suddenly realizing I was there. She looked down at our intertwined hand and slowly removes hers.

I looked at her, hurt. "Katniss, what's wrong?"

I expected her to seat she was in pain, her foot hurt it her head was throbbing. But never in a million years would i have expected her to ask:

"Who are you?"


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Hey ya'll! I'm back with another chapter for you!**

 **Disclaimer: Suzanne Collins owns the Hunger Games. I only own the storyline of this fanfiction.**

 **Peeta POV**

I couldn't believe it. She didn't remember me. Everything from the last month of school and us being together was erased from her mind.

"Katniss, you don't remember me? You don't remember _anything_? School, Finnick, Annie, Rue, Johanna, us…" Seeing her blank stare, I trailed off. Tears filled my eyes. "You really don't remember anything?"

She looked so confused. "No...no I'm sorry, but I don't know any of those people...or you." Suddenly she sat up and looked around. "Where are Prim and my mother?"

I sighed in relief. She didn't forget everything. She still remembered her family. "Your mother left a little while ago to drop Prim off at your home. She'll be back soon."

Katniss looked around the room. "Can I call my mother?" She looked at me apprehensively. "It's not that I don't think you're trustworthy, it's just, I don't know you…"

I took a sharp breath. She didn't trust me. I nodded and moved to get her phone, but was interrupted by the door opening and Mrs. Everdeen opening the door. She saw her daughter sitting up and exclaimed, "Katniss! You're awake!" The older woman enveloped her daughter in a hug and then turned to me. She stopped short, though, when she saw the tears in my eyes. "Peeta? What's wrong?"

I glanced at Katniss, who looked confused as to how her mother knew me. I gently grasped Mrs. Everdeen's arm and pulled her out of the door with me. When I closed the door behind me, she looked at me, confused. "Peeta, what's going on?"

I sighed and rubbed a hand over my face. "Katniss...she doesn't remember me." Shock colored the woman's face. "Finnick, Annie, Rue, our relationship...she doesn't remember any of it. I wouldn't even be surprised if she doesn't remember moving here."

"Oh my…" The older woman sighed. She turned and opened the door to her daughter's hospital room. Katniss sat up on the bed flipping through TV channels. When we entered, she looked up. "Katniss...what's the last thing you remember?"

"I remember...getting into a fight with you...because you got a new job and were going to move us from Maine to some place in California for work. You hadn't even asked Prim and I and I was upset that Prim was going to have to leave all of her friends."

Mrs. Everdeen and I looked at each other. "Katniss, what's today's date?" Katniss's mother asked.

Katniss thought for a second. "I think...it's July 28th, right?" July? That was nearly four months ago.

Mrs. Everdeen let out a breath. "Katniss...honey, that was four months ago. We moved here, Panem, months ago. You've been going to a new high school. You have new friends." She turned to me. "You don't remember any of that?" Katniss shook her head. "Do you recognize Peeta at all?" The older woman gestured to me.

"No, I...I'm sorry. I don't remember any of that. Or...you, Peeta." Mrs. Everdeen looked at me sympathetically. She had grown closer to her daughter, recently, and because of that, knew how close Katniss and I had become. She knew how much this was probably hurting me.

After asking her a couple more questions, Mrs. Everdeen pressed the call button for the doctor. He came into the room, not long after. Mrs. Everdeen and I explained the situation to her, what we had learned about Katniss and how much she remembered.

Her doctor, Doctor Maclin, took a seat by her bed and began to speak to all of us. "So, it seems that when Katniss, here, fell and hit her head. It caused some damage. So, yes, she has forgotten quite a bit of the past year, but, fortunately, her CT scans show that she had minimal damage to the limbic system in her brain. Although her memory may be gone right now, it shouldn't be permanent. I can't make any promises, but I am 95% sure that her memory will return in time." After informing us about her sprained ankle, and how to care for it, he told us that she would be kept overnight to be monitored and left.

Mrs. Everdeen turned to me and smiled sadly. "Peeta, why don't you go home. You have school tomorrow and I'm sure your parents want you home." I knew there wasn't much for me to do here since Katniss didn't remember me, so I nodded and grabbed my bag from the floor.

I turned and looked at Katniss. "Goodnight, Katniss, I'll...I'll see you soon." I shot her a weak smile and left to room, calling Rye to come pick me up.

When Rye pulled up to the curb, I climbed into to passenger seat. He glanced at me as he pulled away and onto the street. "So how is she?"

I had called my family from the waiting and told them what was happening. They cared about Katniss and I knew they would be hurt, as well, that she forgot them, too. "Oh, just fine, except for a badly sprained ankle and not remembering anything from the past four months. Including: moving, school, friends, you guys, and our relationship."

Rye looked over in shock. "She doesn't remember _anything_ about you?"

I shook my head. We drove back to the school in silence, Rye knowing I needed my own time to think. When we got there I got out and got into my own car. I drove back home quickly and went inside the house. I ignored my father's calls and went upstairs into my room, getting changed and falling into my bed.

I laid there, thinking about Katniss and what happened today. What if she never remembered me? I would never be happy again. I had only known her a month, but I already knew she'd be the only one for me. I loved her so much. The thought of her not remembering me brought tears to my eyes, and for the first time today, I let them fall.

Sobs wracked my body as I cried. I didn't hear the door open or someone enter the room. I looked up as someone softly touched my arm. Lisa smiled sadly at me.

"Lisa, she doesn't remember me!" I choked out. She wrapped her arms around me and I cried into her shoulder, letting out all of my sorrows. I cried myself to sleep in my step-mother's arms.

The next morning, I got up and got dressed, hurrying to school. I went straight to the office and informed the secretary, Ms. Trinket, of my situation and she did as I asked. Ms. Trinket sent out notes to all of my friends' teachers and they would be released immediately and sent to the office.

A couple minutes later, all of my friends arrived at the office. I brought them all outside to the tree we sat under at lunch. I told them all to sit down. Then I began speaking. "Yesterday, after all of you left, Katniss woke up. But when she did...she didn't remember me." Annie gasped. "She didn't, doesn't remember any of the past four months. Moving, the new school...all of you guys, all of it is gone. The doctor said that it should come back eventually, but I just wanted to let you guys know."

Everyone was silent. No one knew how to react to this new information. Then, finally, Finnick said: "This is all Delly's fault. Everyone here saw her purposely drop Katniss. Everyone who was in that gym saw it happen." We all nodded our agreement.

"We have to get that twit busted. We have to tell Principal Cressida." Said Johanna. Everyone agreed to this.

"Bristol was right there," Rue said, "she must have seen it happen. We can get her and everyone else who saw what happened to help us."

Soon, we all had to get back to class, but there was only one thing on all of our minds: getting Delly punished.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Hey y'all! I'm back with yet another chapter. This one will also be in Peeta's POV, sorry if any of you want Katniss. I'll get to that soon.**

 **Disclaimer: It's all Suzanne Collins', I only own the storyline of this fanfiction.**

Peeta POV

We made an appointment with the Principle. Ms. Cressida was always a fair woman and we knew she would listen to us. We decided that first, we would just tell her ourselves and if we needed some help, we'd go to the others.

So, that Tuesday, the seven of us(Katniss was at home, still) walked into the principal's office. "Ah, hello, kids, what may I do for you?" Ms. Cressida asked. She sat behind a large mahogany desk with her feet propped up on it. I smirked a bit. Ms. Cressida was the epitome of a cool principle. She had her hair flipped over the side of her head and the side of her head was shaved. She had multiple ear piercings and wore jeans and leather jackets to school.

I started. "Ms. Cressida, I'm sure by now, you know about what happened to our friend, Katniss?" The question was pointless, of course, as we all knew the entire staff of the school would be in a mad scramble to make sure the school wasn't sued. Ms. Everdeen would never do that anyway, but they didn't know that.

"Of course, how is Katniss? I heard she hit her head pretty hard." Ms. Cressida asked with a frown. That's another thing I liked about Ms. Cressida, she genuinely cared about her students, unlike some of the teachers who feigned concern for a girl they barely noticed.

"Uh, yeah, yeah she did…" I said quietly. Finnick put his hand on my shoulder. "Katniss...she has unfortunately lost some memory." The woman's eyes widen "She has no memory of even moving from Maine to Panem. She doesn't remember us, this school, any of her teachers, or anything from the past four months."

"Oh my goodness, how horrible." Ms. Cressida cried out.

"It really is quite horrible. And we're here to tell you that it wasn't an accident." I said, solemnly. Everyone else nods in confirmation.

Ms. Cressida's eyes bulged. "Not an accident? What do you mean?" The shocked principle asked.

"We mean that during cheerleading tryouts, one of the girls who was holding Katniss up in a lift dropped her on purpose. That person was Delly Cartwright." Finnick told her.

"Well, kids, I'm sure you know that that is a very serious accusation you're leveling. How do you know that it wasn't just an accident?" She inquired.

"Because," Annie stepped forward, "We were all there and saw her hands drop out like this." Annie cupped her hands and pulled them apart, mimicking what Delly had done. "And she stepped backwards, too. After katniss fell, Delly and her friends didn't even bother to see if she was okay, they walked away laughing. They all knew it was going to happen, we saw her tell them something right before.

Ms. Cressida sat at her desk, thinking. "Well, while I would be inclined to believe you more than them anyway because of your, er, cleaner reputation than theirs, I must hear their side as well." She told us. "I also know, that your particular groups of friends seem to have a history of fights and gossip. I need to make sure that you aren't just blaming them for this."

We all said that we understood and nodded. We exited the office and began walking to our first class. We had all shown up to school early to talk to the principle and we still had quite some time until school started.

"Well," Rue started, "now we need people to help us out, people who saw what happened and will tell Ms. Cressida the truth." We all agreed.

When school started, we began our search for people who were at tryouts, but to our astonishment, no one would help us. By the time lunch rolled around, we'd had no luck in finding anyone to help us.

"It's the Careers. The damn cowards must have scared everyone into being quiet." Johanna growled, pacing.

So, by the time the end of the school came around, we had no one and when we walked into the office, the Careers had these smug looks on their faces.

When Principle Cressida told them of what we had said to her, they instantly denied it. "What? That's crazy!" Glimmer shrieked. "We would never do that, They're just trying to pin this on us because they're jealous of how amazing we are."

"Yeah," Delly agreed, "I would never do that, I'm too nice. It was all Katniss's fault, she was a horrible cheerleader and wasn't any good at lifts so she fell. She's the only one to blame for this."

I was pissed. Not only wouldn't they admit to hurting Katniss, but of course they insisted on bad mouthing her, too.

Eventually, principle Cressida stood up and began to speak. "Well, unfortunately, I cannot take one student's words over another's, so I have no choice but to conclude that this was all an accident." The Careers cheered, while we all hung our heads.

They all looked so smug and triumphant, I just wanted to punch every single one of their damned...wait. I looked over to the one member of the Careers who didn't look happy. In fact...they looked guilty. They hadn't wanted this to happen.

I willed them to meet my eyes. And when they looked at me, all I saw was remorse and guilt. I silently pleaded with them. To do the right thing. To tell the truth.

"Wait," said Clove, her eyes still trained on mine, "I have something to confess."

Principle Cressida stopped. "What is it, Clove?"

She looked at us and all of our hopeful faces. "They're lying."

"Clove! What are you doing?!" Cashmere shrieked.

"SH!" Principle cut her off sharply. "What do you mean?"

Clove sighed. "Delly dropped Katniss on purpose. She was jealous that Peeta liked Katniss and not her. She told us that she was going to do it at cheer tryouts. I wanted to say something, but I didn't and I regret that. They scared all of the others who were there so that we wouldn't get in trouble."

We all stood there, in shock. Clove French had helped us. Had betrayed her friends.

Principle Cressida cleared her throat. "Well, then it would seem there is a punishment in order. You six," She looked to the Careers, excluding Clove and Delly, "will receive a week's suspension and after that a month's detention and gum scraping and trash pick up."

Immediately they all began to protest. "Hush! You will not complain about this or I will add another two months!" They quieted down and then she turned to Clove. "While I am thankful, Ms. French that you were truthful in the end, you did still technically lie by omission and let this happen, for that I must give you two weeks' suspension." Clove nodded, seeming to have already known she would still get in trouble.

Then she turned to Delly. "And you Ms. Cartwright, you I am appalled with. Never before have I had a student perform such a treacherous act. It will be my recommendation to the school board that you are expelled, but since I must consult them first, you will receive a month's suspension first."

She dismissed them and when Clove passed by, trailing a little farther behind, I grabbed her arm and gave her a meaningful look. "Thank you." I said.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm sorry I haven't updated recently, I have been really busy. Anyway, a correction from last chapter: Clove received two weeks' detention not suspension.**

 **Disclaimer: Characters are not mine, plotline is.**

 **Peeta POV**

I took a deep breath as I walked to class. Katniss still wasn't back and my classes just weren't the same without her. I walked into P.E., head hung low. I see the rest of the group sitting in our usual corner, except the air wasn't filled with their usual chatter. Katniss's memory loss had affected us all.

I sat down next to them silently. It had only been a weekend since Katniss had been gone. "Have any of you seen her yet?" They didn't need to ask who I was talking about, they already knew. For an answer, all I got were shaking heads. I hadn't expected it.

Soon, Coach Brutus and Coach Enobaria entered the room and told us to go run two laps around the track. As I ran, I thought to myself. I thought about how much this sucked. Lisa and my father had been really worried all weekend. I had stayed in my room the whole time, barely eating, and declining when my brothers asked me if I wanted to go out and kick around a soccer ball.

They didn't press me too much though. They knew how much she meant to me. They saw how much happier I had been since she came into my life. Not to mention that it would have been hard to miss the amount of paintings featuring her that had started appearing in my room.

I swallowed thickly. I was just starting to plan how I would ask her to homecoming when the accident happened. I was going to bring her to an archery range that had moving targets. The targets were at different areas, each area labeled with a memory that meant a lot to us on a map I'd make for her. Each target would have a clue on where to go next taped to it, and she'd have to shoot the bullseye to get the target to stop moving and retrieve the clue.

I was going to woo her, sweep her off her feet. I would take her to homecoming, and at the end of the night, I'd ask her to be my girlfriend.

My chest ached. That might never happen now. She doesn't have a clue who I am. Who any of us are.

I finished my two laps and headed to the gym. We were in the basketball unit. The boys and girls split into two different games, some people shooting threes every time, others stumbling over their feet when they're not even dribbling the ball.

Usually, I loved P.E. I was naturally athletic and I liked sports, but today, I just wasn't into it. My mind kept wandering to Katniss. I knew she was out of the hospital, Prim had told me when I passed by her this morning. But was her ankle still hurting? How about her head? Did she remember anything? Did she remember me?

I was pulled from my thoughts with the loud, piercing tweet of Coach Brutus's whistle. He motioned with his hand for us to head to the locker rooms. Finn, Thresh, and Blight walked with me to the lockers, each of us quickly changing and heading outside.

After fourth period, we met the girls under our usual tree where we ate lunch. As we sat down, we all sensed the emptiness, and I stared at the spot next to me that wasn't taken. It was where Katniss always sat.

"Hey." Annie's soft voice called all of our attention. She motioned over towards the buildings where I could make out a girl, our age who sat alone without her friends, or ex-friends. It was Clove.

We all looked at each other and came to a consensus. We all got up and headed over to the shaded area where she sat. Clove looked up at hearing our footsteps and her eyes widened. "Uh, hi…" She said to us.

"Would you like to sit with us?" Rue asked softly.

Clove looked taken aback. "Huh?"

"We want to know if you want to eat lunch with us." I said. "I'm guessing that your friends won't exactly be too keen on having you join them when you get back."

She snorts. "What friends?" At our confused expressions, she continues. "Before I was 'friends' with the Careers, they used to bully me. Make fun of how short I was and call me names, push me around. When I started competing in fencing, they were impressed. They invited me to join their group and I knew if I didn't, the bullying would only get worse. So I joined. I joined and hated every moment of it."

Finnick spoke up, "Well, you never have to deal with them again. You helped get justice for something that was done to our friend. Now, they can't do things like that to anyone else. So, I know this building wall is probably an amazing conversationalist, but I'd wager a guess you'd rather sit with real people."

We all laugh at his joking and Clove smiles. "I'd love to sit with you guys. Thank you." Johanna pulls her to her feet and we all move back to the tree.

As we sat down, Clove set herself down next to Annie and Rue. "So how's Katniss?" She asked all of us. We paused, our expressions turning grim. Finally, I respond. "She, uh, Katniss...when she hit her head, something happened…"

Clove looked at me questioningly. I sighed, "Katniss can't remember us." Clove gasped. "She doesn't remember anything after she was told that she was going to move to Panem."

Clove was shocked. "Oh, god, I'm so sorry guys." She looks guilty.

I smile sadly at her. "It wasn't your fault, Clove. It was Delly's and you helped us get her punished for what she did."

"I know, but I still feel guilty for letting Delly drop her in the first place, I could've stopped it."

"Maybe you could've, but you can't dwell on that, all you can do is make the right choices from here on in." I told her.

Our conversation was cut short by the bell for fifth period, but then Clove called out to me. "Oh, and Peeta?"

I turned around. "Yeah?"

"I don't think you have to worry about Katniss not remembering you. It'll come back to her."

I cocked my neck. "And why's that?"

She smiled softly at me. "Because you don't just forget the love of your life."

 **A/N: Yaaaaaayyyyy, I finally finished! I kept starting and stopping while writing this chapter. Sorry Katniss hasn't been in the last two chapters, I promise you'll get to see some of her soon, though.**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it's taken me so long to update, but I have been really busy with school and after school stuff. Anyway, here's another chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: Don't own THG.**

 **Katniss's POV**

I was released a week ago, but my mother insisted that I stayed home. She didn't want me to be overwhelmed and I can't say I disagreed with her. I didn't want to go back to a school where people, assumably knew who I was, but I remembered none of.

Today, though, I decided I was going to go to school. I was going to have to eventually, and I figured that now was as good a time as any. I got up early, got dressed and began my walk to school with Prim.

About half-way there, I stopped. _How did I remember the way to school?_ Suddenly, a memory came back to me.

" _Ok, uh…" I said looking around. "If the school is on Lake Street, maybe we should turn here…?" it was more of a question than a statement._

 _Prim looked at me, eyebrows raised. "Uh huh." She said, unimpressed. I was beginning to get frustrated, I was going to make us late for school on our first day!_

" _Ugh," I sighed, "this is hopeless, I have no clue how to get there!"_

" _How about we do this..." Prim said, taking my phone from my jacket pocket. She turned it on and stopped at my password screen._

" _It's-" I started._

" _-27769. I know." Prim said, opening up my phone. "Okay, Google Maps, Lake Street, and...here it is!" She shows me the phone, with the directions to school pulled up. I never could have done that, I was still getting used to my new phone. I was so technology challenged._

" _Cool, hey how did you know my password?" I'd never told her it._

" _I know you, Katniss, it wasn't that hard. The numbers spell out 'arrow' on the keypad." Prim deadpanned._

" _Oh" I said._

I jolted, coming back to reality. I must have looked shaken because Prim looked at me concernedly.

"Katniss, what's wrong?" Prim's eyebrows furrowed, a confused look on her face.

"I think...I just remembered something. The first day of school here, we got lost and you used my phone to find the way." I stopped. "Wait, I don't have a phone. We could never afford it."

Prim smiled sadly at me. "Mom bought you the phone to say a kind of sorry for making us move. You were really mad."

As we got to school, I thought about what had just happened. If one memory had already come back to me, maybe the rest of them would soon too. Walking into the building, I checked my schedule. Mr. Abernathy, homeroom.

I found the room and walked in, taking a seat near the back. Soon, a girl with reddish-brown hair sat down next to me. I jolted in my seat as my head was flooded with memories.

I remember sitting on the bathroom floor. Meeting her in this classroom on the first day of school. Going to the gym. A big group of people. Practicing in her backyard for cheerleading try-outs.

I gasped and whipped my head around to stare at her. She looks back at me, alarmed. "A-Annie?" That was her name, or at least that was what I had remembered.

"Yes!" She yelled, but then calmed herself down. "Yes, yes, that's my name...How did you remember that?" Annie was quite obviously,undeniably happy that I remembered her, but she was trying to reign it in.

"I-I don't really know, when you sat down, a bunch of memories just came flooding back to me. I...remembered you and a group of people in the gym and you have a boyfriend, right?" In my memories, I remembered seeing she and a handsome bronze-haired boy being...quite cuddly at some point in, like, all of the memories.

"Yeah," she smiled, "yeah, I do. Do you, um, do you remember his name?" Annie sounded hopeful, but also afraid that I'd have no clue.

I thought back really hard thinking. It started with and F...yeah an F. So...Fredrick, Fergus, Fi-Finnick!

Seeing me struggle, Annie starts to speak, "If you don't remember, you don't have to-"

I cut her off. "-Finnick." She stopped. "It is Finnick, right?"

Suddenly, Annie smiled, she looked as if her face was about to split in two. "Yes! Yeah, his name is Finnick. He's in second period with us, you'll see him later. He's going to be so happy that you remembered him." Then Annie stopped and thought. "Do you remember anything else?"

"I-I…" An image flew into my mind. A soccer game. Four boys that were, I assumed, my friends, were fighting with four other boys. I remembered feeling immense fear for one of the boys...he was tall, blonde, had amazing blue eyes...but what was his name? I decided to tell Annie about the soccer games, not about Blue Eyes. "A soccer game. These four boys, our friends, got into a fight with some other guys after a soccer game."

"Yeah, or close enough. Those were soccer try-outs." Annie explained.

"Oh," I said, "Annie? What were the other three boys' names? I know Finnick, but who are the other three?" I really wanted to find out Blue Eyes' name. I don't know why, but I just had to. There was something about him...it just drew me in.

"Well, there's Thresh, Blight, and Peeta." Annie looked at me. "Peeta was the one who was in your hospital room when you woke up." Peeta was his name. It suit him.

Out of nowhere, I stumbled back as I was bombarded with memories. Memories of one boy. _Wise men say only fools rush in, but I can't help, falling in love with you. Peeta hugging me from behind. The first time he saved me. I love you._

 _I love you._ That settles it, it was all a lie. Just some hopeless fantasy my subconscious made up about a boy I found undeniably attractive. He could never love me. Peeta was some seemingly perfect entity, handsome, kind, sweet. Someone like him would never love someone like me.

Then, a hand grabbed my shoulder and I was jolted out of my thoughts. "Katniss?" Annie inquired, "Are you alright?"

I took a deep breath, I couldn't tell Annie. She'd probably just laugh at me for ever thinking Peeta could like me. He probably had a girlfriend. Some busty, bubbly, perfect blonde girlfriend who was beautiful, unlike me. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I just...I need to get used to all of the information. " I said slowly.

She looked at me unsurely, but the bell rang and I quickly gathered my things, dashing out of the classroom before she could ask me anything else.

I pulled out my schedule again. Mrs. Wiress. English. I looked at the room number and navigated my way through the halls. I rushed into the classroom and quickly took a seat. I pulled out all my stuff and set it on the desk before slumping down and sighing, exhausted by all of the new revelations of the last hour.

As I got lost in my thoughts, I heard some shuffling in the seat next to me. I glanced over, only to be met by a pair of dazzling blue eyes and a handsome face.

 _Oh, God._ I thought.

Peeta.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Hey, my lovely readers! I am sooooo sorry that it's taken me so long to update! I only just finished performing in my high school's spring musical so I was quite busy. I have to warn you, after this it may take me a little while to update again because I have another production coming up. I'll try my hardest, though! Love you 3**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games or its characters, they belong to Suzanne Collins.**

 **Katniss POV**

 _Shoot, what do I do? I can't deal with this right now. It's all just too much._

My head was spinning. I couldn't be around him, I would go insane! My mind had already started making up fantasies of the two of us. Who knows what it would do if I started spending time with him.

I walked quietly to the back of the classroom, hoping he hadn't seen me yet. After successfully making it unseen to the back of the class, I slid into a seat in the corner of the room, pulling out my binder. I was distracted by all the kids around me, their faces looking vaguely familiar, yet so unknown to me, my mind unable to make the connections I so desperately needed to remember who they were.

As I shook myself from my stupor, I glanced back down at my desk and jolted from surprise as I stared down at the cover. It was covered in pictures of me and the people I assumed were my friends. They were the same people that were at the hospital when I had woken up.

I scanned the plethora of images, looking at their faces. I saw one of Annie on her boyfriend's shoulders inside of a swimming pool looking perfectly dry. I laughed as I saw the next one was of the both of them being shoved over by a flying body. In the next picture I saw a laughing brunette standing next to them in the pool. I thought hard, trying to remember her name. _I think it starts with a J...Julia...Jenine...Jane...Ja...Je...Jo...Johanna!_

I smiled, pleased with myself for managing to remember my brunette friend's name. In the next picture I saw Johanna with a boy who was kissing her cheek, she was laughing and had her arms around his waist. _Blight._ I remembered Annie told me. _They must be dating._

As I looked at the next picture, my eyes landed on a boy and a girl. They both had dark skin and kind brown eyes. The girl was being carried bridal style by the boy. I remembered that Annie had told me that his name was Thresh. Thresh was a hulking boy, easily over six feet tall, while the girl he was carrying, and clearly dating, was smaller than me.

 _Okay, Katniss, you can do this._ I thought to myself. _Just figure out her name._ I had a vague recollection that she was named after a flower, but not the typical ones like Daisy, Lily, or Rose...something more unique. _A flower...a flower..._ For some reason Rose stuck in my head, not because that was her name, but because it sounded like it. _Maybe it was the letter 'R'_. I thought to myself. _R...Ra...Re...Ru...Rue!_ I almost jumped in excitement that I had remembered her name. Now I knew all of their names.

I continued looking at the pictures. I saw one of all of us. It was a selfie taken by Annie. She was standing while the rest of us were seated on the ground under a big tree. I smiled looking at all the goofy faces we were making. Another was of the three girls and I holding pom poms.

I looked at the next photo. The four boys were in their soccer jerseys and the girls were decked out in school colors: black and gold. The picture was taken on the soccer field. The girls were laying on our stomachs, our chins resting on our palms. The boys stood with one in between each two girls, except for Finn who was just next to Annie, with soccer balls in their hands. I saw that in the next picture we had switched places. I laughed looking at our faces. The girls were mugging the camera, and the boys were trying to look as feminine as possible.

With every new picture, my smile grew and grew, more memories of all of us came flooding back to me. The only thing that put a damper on my excitement was that every time I had a memory of Peeta and I, I would cast it aside. Those memories were certainly fake. Peeta would never like me.

I continued looking at the pictures until I got to one that made me stop. My brows furrowed as I stared at a picture of Peeta and I. His arms were wrapped around me from behind and we were both laughing. _What if...what if Peeta and I did like each other?_ I thought before that this was impossible, but now... _No._ I stopped myself. Peeta didn't like me, he couldn't. _Friends do that too._ I reasoned with my stubborn mind.

Class went on and nothing monumental occurred. I found my way to second period fairly easily and when I entered the classroom I immediately spotted Annie and Finnick sitting together. They both looked up and smiled, seeing me in the doorway. I made my way over to them.

"Uh, hey guys." I said, unable to look straight at them. I fidgeted nervously. I don't know why I was so nervous, the pictures showed me that we were really good friends. It just...I was nervous about what I was going to tell them. "Do you mind if I sit here?" I gestured to the seat behind the two of them.

"Actually we do." Finnick said straight-faced. My stomach dropped. _Or maybe I was wrong about us being friends..._ But then Finnick's face broke into a smile. "Because, actually, Kitty-Kat, you usually sit here." He motioned to the seat he was sitting in as he stood up. "I was just keeping it warm for you." He winked at me and moved to the seat behind Annie.

I turned to the both of them and started speaking. "Um, so I remembered some stuff...actually a lot of stuff last period." I told them quietly.

Annie's face lit up. "Really? That's so great! What did you remember?" She was so excited, I couldn't fight the grin that soon took over my face.

"Almost everything." I said quietly. This was a revelation I had only just come to realize. After I had gone through the pictures and all the memories came flooding back to me...I just felt complete. Well, almost complete. I was still confused about all of my memories with Peeta in them.

Annie and Finnick's mouths both dropped open. "Are you serious?!" Finnick exclaimed. I laughed nodding my head a little. I told them about what happened with the pictures, minus the part about peeta and they both were buzzing with excitement.

"This is so amazing, Katniss! I can't wait to tell everyone else!" Annie almost shouted.

"While I'm excited too, let's just make sure she remembers everything." Finnick said.

"How?" I asked him, confused. Finnick explained that they should quiz me. Ask me questions about the past months and see how much I had really remembered. I agreed to it.

They asked me many questions, ranging from favorite colors to where we were on certain dates. Surprisingly and thankfully, they asked me no questions regarding Peeta specifically. I was still so confused, I didn't think I would've known what to say.

Finally they stop, both grinning madly at me. Finnick is the first to speak. "Annie...I think she really does remember it all."

I am so relieved that I actually start tearing up. I let out a laugh through my tears and hug them both. "I'm so glad that I can remember all of my best friends now." they smile back at me.

Annie grabs me by the shoulders and looks me in the eye. "I'm so glad I've gotten one of my best friends back."

The period flies by and soon the bell rings. We exit the classroom, walking towards the P.E. locker rooms. I got pumped up, thinking about how excited everyone was going to be when I remembered.

I was still confused about Peeta. I didn't know if all of my memories of Peeta were real or not. I stopped in my tracks. Finnick and Annie looked at me, concerned expressions on their faces.

"Katniss? You alright?" Annie asked.

"Yeah," I mumbled, "yeah I just forgot something at my locker." Before they could respond, I took off. I ran towards the only person who I knew wouldn't judge me for where my mind was at.

I knew that Prim and all the rest of the junior high had a break in between classes right now, so I ran to where I remembered she told me she would hang out with her friends. When I spotted her I beckoned her towards me. When she saw me she hurried over, looking worried.

"Katniss? What are you doing here? Is something wrong?" She asked me. I spilled everything that had happened today, even about Peeta. She listened the whole time only responding when I was done. Or not exactly responding. She reached into her backpack and pulled out an iPhone 6 with a dark green case. "What's that?"

"Your phone, Katniss." Prim responded. "Mom told me to give it back to you when I thought you were ready. I guess she must have felt that something was going to happen today."

I took the phone from her hands, but didn't open it right away. I looked at Prim nervously and she nodded at me. I took a deep breath and opened up the phone.

As I looked down at the screen, I nearly dropped my phone in surprise at seeing the picture that was my lock screen.

 _What?_

 **A/N: Just sayin' guys, I think that was the longest chapter I have ever written...at least in terms of word count. :D**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Hey my readers! I'm baaaaaccccckkkk! In the text conversation, Peeta's texts are bolded, Katniss' are italicized and underlined. Not much else to say except I hope you enjoy my next chapter of High School Life!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Hunger Games.**

Katniss POV

I stared down at the picture on the lock screen of my phone, my mind was unable to comprehend what was sitting there right in front of me. I remembered this picture. I saw it in my mind earlier, but I had cast it aside thinking it was another fake memory of Peeta. But here it was. And it was real.

The picture was of Peeta and I. We were standing in his living room, his arms were wrapped around me from behind. I was looking up at him and he, down into my eyes. We wore matching smiles, our gazes fixed on each other. _Does this mean that…? No, no maybe we're just really affectionate friends? That has to be it, right?_

Thinking that maybe something else on my phone would tell me more, I swiped the screen only to realize I needed the password. Prim opened her mouth to tell me, but before she could get anything out, my fingers had flown across the screen, tapping out 2-7-7-6-9. _Arrow._ I thought to myself.

My phone opened up to my home screen. A picture of Prim and I making silly faces. I smiled before turning my attention to the apps. _Where do I go first?_ I looked through my options a couple of times before deciding upon photos.

I scrolled through, glancing at the photos as they passed by. I kept scrolling upwards until I stopped at a video. The picture frozen on the screen showed Peeta and I sitting in his room. He on the piano bench, me sitting on top of the piano. _I guess that memory was real too._

I pressed play on the video. Listening to us sing together, I smiled and thought about how true those words were. _I can't help falling in love with you._ After watching the video, I clicked the home button and my eyes scanned my screen. _Texts._

When I opened up my messages, the first conversation that popped up was with Peeta. My heart thundering, I clicked on the conversation. Taking a deep breath, I began to read through our conversation.

At first, it all seemed normal, just two friends having a meaningless conversation.

 **Hey, we need to get together just to rehearse a couple more times before performing in music class.**

 _Yeah, I know. When are you free? And we can't do tomorrow because I have cheer practice :/_

 **Man, um, well...I can't do Saturday because I have a soccer game.**

 _Well, Sunday then?_

 **Yeah, I think that should be good. My house again?**

 _Sure._

But then, things got interesting.

 **Kat...you know we have to talk about us.**

 _Yeah, yeah I know. I mean, Peeta, I've never been in a relationship before, but...all I know is that I love you._

 **I love you too, baby.**

I sat there and stared at my phone. My mouth open, eyes wide. He loved me...he actually loved me. So that means...all of those memories that I thought weren't real...they actually happened. The kisses, the conversations...my god.

I looked up at my sister who was smiling at me.

"I need to go." I told her before taking off towards the gym for P.E. I ran to the gym. I didn't need to change because I had been excused from P.E. for a while due to my injuries. Running into the room, I spotted my group of friends. They all turned towards the doors when I bursted through, but I only cared about one of them at the moment.

My eyes locked on a cerulean blue pair. I'm absolutely hypnotized and for the first time, I could see that he was too. It's like there was a magnet between us, pulling us towards each other. I made my way towards him, my eyes never leaving his.

Now, I stood only inches away from his seated form. I reached my hand out to him and he took it. I pulled him to his feet and he stood towering over me. For a second, I just looked into his eyes, mesmerized by the love and adoration laced into his gaze. Then, suddenly, I grabbed his face between my hands and crashed my lips to his.

I kissed him with as much passion as I could muster. Pouring all of my love and relief into the kiss. Love for him and relief that all of my memories weren't fake.

When we pulled away from each other, I leaned my head into the crook of his neck and we just embraced each other. One of his hands was placed on the small of my back, the other on the back of my head.

"I remember you. All of you. Every moment we shared, every kiss, every look. I remember it all." I whispered to him. I pulled back a little bit and looked him in the eye. "I remember how much I love you." Tears fell from my eyes as I smiled. Tears of joy and love.

He smiled widely back at me. "I never forgot." He told me. "I never forgot how much I love you and I never will."

Eventually, Peeta had to get back to the P.E. class. Thankfully, nobody but our friends had taken notice of our little exchange. I sat off to the side on the bleachers, watching my friends and my...my Peeta run around and play soccer. We still had to figure out what we were.

I watched in awe as Peeta moved so effortlessly. Soccer came so easily to im, his movements so fluid. Every kick, dodge, swipe, and juke were executed to the T. It was he knew exactly what his opponent was thinking and would start his defensive play before the offensive one even began.

He was so hot. When he was dribbling down the field and maneuvering around other players, he would get this look in his eyes. So determined and strong, fierce.

I cursed myself because I knew that after watching Peeta play soccer for nearly an hour, I wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything else for the rest of the day.

I waited outside of the locker rooms for everyone else to get changed. The girls were the first out. I'm not sure how this happened as it was usually the other way around, but I guess the guys had gotten a lot sweatier than the girls.

When Peeta walked out of the locker room, he made a beeline directly to me, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me to him. I snuggled in closer to his side and rested my head on his chest as he dropped a kiss to the top of my head.

I smiled and sighed contently. His arms were so warm and secure. I felt safe and protected.

Like home.


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Hey you guys! I'm sooooo sorry that it's been so long since I've updated, I've just been incredibly busy and haven't had the time. This is actually the last chapter and epilogue! It's the end of my first chapter story, I know!**

 **Buuuutttt, don't worry, this won't be the last you're hearing of me! Here are some up and coming new fanfictions that I'll be writing soon:**

 **-Almost Wasn't(Captain America, ScarletCaptain)**

 **-Rocky Times(Hunger Games, Everlark)**

 **-Hope for It(Girl Meets World/Hunger Games Crossover, Rucas)**

 **-You've Always Been with Me(Agents of Shield, SkyeWard)**

 **-Alleyways(The Mortal Instruments, Clace)**

 **-Riptides(Hunger Games, Everlark)**

 **-Can You Paint…(Hunger Games, Everlark)**

 **It's going to take me awhile to get all of these out, but I'm hopeful that I'll be able to eventually. If you haven't already, check out my other two finished stories-Street Lights and Top Floors- if you like one, you'll most likely like the other. They're both one shots!**

 **Disclaimer: I still don't own The Hunger Games, it belong to a wonderful woman named Suzanne Collins.**

Katniss POV

After I recovered, everyone slowly got back to normal. If anything, things got better. Much better.

Our group of friends drew so much closer to each other. We went on each other for everything, depended on each other when we needed it. It was and is amazing.

After we finished senior year, our gang all went off to college. We split, but everyone had at least one person to keep them company. Peeta, Finnick, and I all went to NYU. Peeta majored in art, Finnick in marine biology, and me in Health and Physical education.

It was a bit of a strange direction for me to go. Everyone expected me to go into environmental sciences or forestry, maybe, but after studying, I became a High School PE teacher. I liked it because I got to be active and stay in shape, but at the same time, I felt as if the "Health" aspect of it connected me to my mother and my sister, one a nurse, the other an aspiring one. Not very much, though.

However, I knew that I had to do something with archery, I loved it too much. So, I took a summer job teaching archery at the sports center. I spent the first half of all my summer weekdays teaching kids about my passion, and helping the discover their talent. Which brings me to where I am now.

"Bye, Leanna, see you next week!" I call as I passed the front desk on my way out. Leanna was a kind older woman who worked as the sports center's receptionist. She had worked there since the center opened thirty years ago and was probably in better shape than I was.

Leanna waves goodbye to me with a smile, and I walk out the transparent doors to my car, ready to drive home. To my husband.

 _It was my first summer out of university, and I had just gotten my job at the sports center a couple months prior. My sour mood was out for everyone to see, but I didn't care. I wasn't even supposed to come into work today. I was supposed to be spending my day with my boyfriend, but he had bailed on me the night before. So I called in and told them that I could come in._

 _I angrily opened my locker, prepared to throw all of my things in when something fell out._

 _It was an enlarged version of the map of our archery area. Except each of the sections were labeled differently. Music room. My front porch. The locker banks. Ms. Wiress' room. The gym. Attached to the map was a note._

 _I pulled it off and read it. It said:_

 _ **Katniss, my darling,**_

 _ **As you may have figured out, you're in for something a little different today. You'll be led to different areas of the archery range today by each note that I've written. When you get to each destination, you'll find a bow and one arrow. Shoot the target and retrieve the note attached.**_

 _ **The first clue is:**_

 _ **Go to the place where I first laid eyes on you, the place where I first fell in love with the grey-eyed beauty.**_

 _ **I love you baby,**_

 _ **Your Peeta XX**_

 _I took another look at the map from my locker. The northern section of the range was labeled "The Locker Bank". That's where I'll go._

 _I made my trek out to the section I was instructed to and, as promised, rested on a stool was a bow and a single arrow. One shot._

 _I picked up the items and strung the bow. Taking aim at the moving target, I breathed in deeply before letting go both my breath and my arrow. Bullseye._

 _I jogged over to the now still target and reached for the cream colored envelope pinned to the top. Opening the flap, I pulled out the note._

 _ **Good job, babe, I'm glad you remembered that.**_

 _ **Your next clue is:**_

 _ **Where are days always started together**_

 _Ms. Wiress' room. That was the western section_

 _I quickly made my way over to the designated area and did the same as I had done at the last station. The cycle repeated._

 _ **Where I first heard you sing.**_

 _The music room._

 _ **The place where we first kissed.**_

 _My front porch._

 _ **Finally, the place where I lost you...and where you found me.**_

 _I smiled. The gym._

 _It looked like the gym was going to be my last stop, so I made fast work of getting myself over there. It was in the center of all the other areas._

 _When I got there, there waiting for me was my handsome boyfriend, smiling at me._

" _Peeta," I started, "what is all this?"_

 _He took my hands in his. "Katniss, when we were eighteen years old, I laid eyes on the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. I met the love of my life. The person that would complete me. From the day I met you, you were all that I could think about. You put breath in my lungs, light in my eyes, and paint on my brush." I laughed tearfully at this. "The day I thought I lost you, my world started crumbling. But, when you walked back in, i promised that I would never let you go again." He cupped my face in his hands and brushed away my tears with his thumbs. "If you would please do me the honors." Peeta motioned to the bow and arrow next to him on a table._

 _The bow was amazing. It was carved masterfully and, I noticed, in small calligraphy was my name engraved into the side._

 _I raised my bow, and aimed it at the target. Only then did I notice that this target was slightly different. Right below the bullseye rested a roll of paper. A piece of plastic that was keeping it from unrolling laid just on top of the bullseye. I looked at Peeta and he nodded._

 _I took a deep, shuddering breath before letting it and the arrow go. It was like slow motion. The arrow soared through the air and straight onto the bullseye._

 _In that moment, the piece of plastic snapped and the poster unrolled._

 _W_

 _I_

 _L_

 _L_

 _Y_

 _O_

 _U_

 _M_

 _A_

 _R_

 _R_

 _Y_

 _M_

 _E_

 _?_

 _I gasped, tears flooding my vision as I dropped to my knees and stared wide eyed at the poster. I looked over to Peeta as he approached and he pulled me to my feet._

" _Now, " he said, "originally, this was how I had planned to start my life with you the year that I met you. How I was going to ask you to Homecoming. But, I never got to do that. So, I figured, why not use it as a way to start our new life together."_

 _I watched, frozen in place as my boyfriend lowered himself to his knee and pulled out a beautiful ring. In the center of it say a perfect cream pearl. A diamond encrusted silver spiral curled around the center of it, before wrapping around the band where my finger would soon sit._

" _Katniss Everdeen, I love you with everything that I have and I will never stop. Will you marry me?" He looked up at me, love in his eyes._

 _My face broke out into the largest smile that I have ever had. "Yes!" I choked out through my tears. He slipped the beautiful ring onto my finger and pulled me up to kiss him as my family came out of the building behind me._

Walking through the door of my home, I heard the voices that rang out every day as soon as I stepped through the entryway.

"Mama's home!" Chorused my children.

I remember the birth of my oldest.

" _GAH!" I screamed as agony ripped through the lower half of my body. I sobbed in pain as I grasped Peeta's knee. He was seated behind me, me between his legs as he held mine back. "Peeta," I whimpered, "I can't do it, please, it hurts too much."_

 _He kissed the side of my head. "You're almost there, baby, just a few more." I moaned in agony. "Shhhh, I know, I know, I know it hurts. But, they're almost here."_

 _A few agonizing minutes later, I heard the doctor speak. "Alright Mrs. Mellark, this is the last one and then you get to meet your baby."_

 _I gathered up everything I had and pushed as hard as I could. I screamed so loud I'm sue the entire hospital heard me, before I felt an immense relief of pressure._

" _It's a girl!" The doctor cried. I laughed in joy, albeit tiredly. A daughter. Peeta left me only momentarily too cut the umbilical cord. The doctor then put the swaddled baby into my tired arms, and left as Peeta and I met our daughter for the first time._

" _Hi…" I chuckled through my tears. "Hi."_

 _I looked down at the pink face of my daughter with so much love that I felt like my heart could burst._

 _I looked at Peeta, "What's her name, baby?"_

 _He smiled at me and our daughter. "What about this: you pick her first name, and I get her middle name. Then we alternate."_

 _I laughed. "You're awfully sure we're gonna have more, mister."_

 _Peeta looked at our daughter softly. "Look at her, Kat. How could we not have more?" I knew he was right._

" _I think," I began, "that her name is Elizabeth. But, we'll call her Eza. Beautiful, yet unique. Just like her."_

" _Elizabeth Kalea Mellark." Peeta stated, beaming down at our newly named daughter._

" _Kalea?" I inquired, curious._

" _It's Hawaiian. It means 'joy' or 'happiness'. And that's what she is to us. Joy. Happiness. Kalea."_

 _I smiled lovingly at our daughter. "Yes, you are, Eza Kalea Mellark."_

That became the trend for our children. All of their first names were never what people called them.

Elizabeth Kalea became Eza. Cassidy Kala is Kess. Alexander Ikaika became Xan. Marcus Ihsan became Mace. Daniella Kalani is Dela. James Ike became Mage. And Mackenzie Kaipo became Enzie.

Yeah, seven. They and their father were my everything. Eza was somehow the only single baby in the house. Kess and Xan, Mace and Dela, and Mage and Enzie are all twins.

Each of my births were one to two years apart so they were all very close in age. Eza is five, Kess and Xan are four, Mace and Dela are two, and Mage and Enzie are both only six months old.

Eza being the fastest got to me first, jumping into my arms. Her siblings followed behind her, Peeta carrying the two youngest. I was embraced and clung to by every single one of my beloved children as they said hello, before scampering away to go play with their toys. Peeta put the babies down for their nap before making his way back over to me.

He flung his arm over my shoulders and kissed me on the temple as I leaned into him. We watched our children play together, smiling at the life we had created.

 **El fin.**

 **Thank you guys soooooo much for staying with this story! I'm finally done and will now start my next stories, so keep watch!**

 **Notes:**

 **All the kids' middle names are Hawaiian and here are the meanings:**

 **Kalea-Joy, happiness**

 **Kala-Princess**

 **Ikaika-Man of Strength**

 **Ihsan-Kind Man**

 **Kalani-Of the Heavens**

 **Ike-One who brings Laughter**

 **Kaipo-Sweetheart**

 **Here's the link to the picture of Katniss' engagement ring:**

 **p/pearl-spiral-halo-engagement-ring-with-diamond-accents-sr1351akprd?stone1_size=7mm &stone1_grade=aaa+&metal1_type=14k+rose+gold&cid=ps-gplaus-rprltop-adg=27816748371&resetChannel=true&gclid=CjwKCAjw6ZLOBRALEiwAxzyCW2YH1UevCNz-pO4tIsBtS1jGdfzPYn8WmSxRajuMagqVVKTEkVLPrhoCtH8QAvD_BwE**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **-hayhaymellark**


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